Ukraine will be forced to “correct” its attitude towards PACE if the organization decides to return the Russian delegation and change its charter. This was announced on the air of the “Ukrainian Radio” by Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Bodnar. How this “adjustment” will look like, the diplomat did not specify.

However, according to Bodnar, official Kiev does not consider the return of Russia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) “archicritical” and is ready for such a development of events, but negatively assesses the restoration of Moscow’s rights to one of the most important European structures.

In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin compared Russia's possible return to PACE with a change in the type of punishment "from imprisonment to probation."

“The Council of Europe risks becoming weaker and losing an important credit of trust. Europe, unfortunately, too, ”wrote in Klimkin on his Twitter.

Recall that the Russian delegation left PACE in 2015. The refusal of further work in the organization was the response of Moscow to the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly to deprive Russian representatives of the right to vote because of the events in the Crimea and Donbas in 2014. Russia also suspended the payment of membership fees to PACE, and the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, did not rule out the country's withdrawal from the Council of Europe. In this case, Russia will leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2019, the position of the PACE in relation to the Russian Federation has changed. On June 3, the organization’s regulatory committee adopted a draft resolution on granting Russia the authority to participate in the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly. This document also spelled out amendments to the PACE Constitution. In particular, it is assumed that in the event of challenging or revising the powers of a national delegation, its members may not be deprived of the right to vote, the right to speak and be represented in the Parliamentary Assembly and its bodies. Voting on the draft resolution is scheduled for June 24th.

On the Russian side, the decision of the PACE Committee on Regulations was commented on by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

“We are in favor of dialogue, but it should be on an equal footing. The rights of national delegations have no right to infringe. Before applying for participation in the regular session of the PACE - namely, our colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly propose to do it in June - we will soon hold consultations with all the factions participating in the formation of the delegation, ”Volodin quoted the Russian State Duma website.

Ukrainian interventions

The Ukrainian side reacted negatively to this document. The head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the European Solidarity Party (formerly Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc), Vladimir Aryev, said that the adoption of this resolution is a “bad option.” However, in his opinion, the draft resolution only complicates the procedure for punishing the national delegation, but does not completely exclude such a possibility.

According to Aryev, the Ukrainian delegation to PACE intends to prevent the adoption of the resolution proposed by the Rules Committee.

“We will work to convince the assembly not to shoot themselves in the leg,” the head of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE wrote on his Facebook, adding that the Ukrainian delegation intends to actively interact with journalists, public organizations and diplomats in this matter.

The director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management, Ruslan Bortnik, in an interview with RT, suggested that official Kiev could raise the issue of changing the leadership of PACE. He recalled that supporting the position of Russia has already cost the position to one of the leaders of this organization.

  • Pedro Agramunt
  • Reuters
  • © Vincent Kessler

In the fall of 2017, PACE President Pedro Agramunt resigned. Six months before that, he had visited Syria with the Russian delegation on an airplane of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In Damascus, Agramunt met with Syrian leader Bashar Assad. Since this trip was not authorized by PACE, the organization said that the chairman had exceeded his authority and demanded his resignation. Agramunt left the post voluntarily, without waiting for a vote on this issue.

However, this is not the case when the resignation of the leadership of the PACE is possible, experts say. They emphasize that the current head of the Parliamentary Assembly, Lilian Mori Pasquier, is not the only speaker in favor of the return of the Russian delegation. This decision is openly supported by many PACE members, as well as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland. He directly urged not to create a “new dividing line in Europe” and return the powers of the Russian delegation.

“However, Ukraine will try to ensure that PACE projects related to Russia are not funded or financed in a smaller volume, and that these projects themselves are smaller. I think when Bodnar spoke about the adjustment of Ukraine’s attitude to this organization, he meant above all this, ”Ruslan Bortnik believes.

At the same time, experts note that Russia and PACE have not so many joint projects, and therefore even if the Ukrainian delegation succeeds in revising them, this is unlikely to be an effective measure. According to Vladimir Zharikhin, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, Ukraine may, by Russian example, refuse to pay contributions to the budget of the Parliamentary Assembly.

“It will be a real, not a declarative step. It is only worth noting that, unlike Russia, Ukraine pays modest contributions that will in no way affect the well-being of PACE, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.

At the same time, Zharikhin considers it unlikely that Ukraine will leave the Parliamentary Assembly. This radical option in the event of a return to Russia was admitted on May 16 by the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, Vladimir Aryev, having made a reservation, however, that he expressed only his personal opinion.

“I think this is just a threat. Ukraine will not achieve anything by leaving, but will lose the opportunity to defend its position in PACE, ”Zharikhin believes.

Winners and losers

Relations between Kiev and Moscow as a whole will not change due to the planned return of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly: they were bad and will remain so, Ruslan Bortnik believes.

“Most likely, with the return of the Russians to PACE, political discussions will intensify, they will have even more emotions and conflicts, which, of course, will not in the best way affect the overall performance of this structure,” the Ukrainian political scientist suggested.

At the same time, the return of the Russian delegation can hardly be considered a success for Moscow, the expert continued.

“We can say that this is more a defeat for Ukraine than a victory for Russia. Moreover, the defeat is temporary and situational, ”says Bortnik.

In general, the European Union countries, which constitute the majority in the Parliamentary Assembly, have not changed their attitude towards the conflict between Kiev and Moscow, the expert stressed. He also noted that Ukraine, in turn, will not abandon the policy of joining the EU, no matter what the Parliamentary Assembly decides.

  • Pro-European rally in Ukraine
  • Reuters
  • © Gleb Garanich

Zharikhin, on the contrary, believes that the return of the Russian delegation to the PACE will be a positive event, the significance of which, however, should not be overestimated.

“Moscow will probably be back. Kiev will try to somehow prevent this, but it is unlikely that he will succeed. In any case, nothing fatal will happen. Relations between Russia and Ukraine are developing outside the PACE and not under the influence of the Parliamentary Assembly, which itself has very modest opportunities to influence the situation in Europe. It is in many respects a decorative body, a certain platform for negotiations, and no more. But the fact that the position of one of the structures of Europe towards Russia has changed cannot be welcomed, ”the expert concluded.