The party of the ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko “European Solidarity” agitates Ukrainians to sign a petition demanding that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe cancel the decision to restore the rights of the Russian delegation to this international body.
“We call upon the high-ranking members of the PACE to cancel the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly on the restoration of voting rights and participation of Russia,” the political union website reported.
Petro Poroshenko personally appealed to support the petition to the citizens of Ukraine. Nevertheless, in only two days, only 12.5 thousand people signed the document.
I call out the Ukrainians to sign a letter to the Party from the end of the meeting about the turn of the Russian delegation.
Petit up to PARЄ! Zahisti Ukraine! https://t.co/7A1f62bHp5https://t.co/mv9ZNt1Tbq
Also, European Solidarity calls on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to impose sanctions against Russia for non-compliance with the decision of the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to release Ukrainian sailors detained last year for violating the Russian border in the Kerch Strait. Moscow had previously emphasized the “lack of jurisdiction of arbitration” to consider the incident.
At the same time, the Poroshenko party advises Europeans not to reduce pressure on the Russian Federation, arguing that the abolition of any restrictive measures "is a sign of a weakening of the international coalition in support of Ukraine."
Recall, on July 26, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution in which it confirmed the full powers of the Russian delegation. The day before, PACE invited Russia to take part in the June session of the organization.
The reinstatement of the powers of the Russian Federation in this international structure caused a strong reaction from the delegations of Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. In protest, they left the PACE meeting hall. They were joined by some representatives of Slovakia and Poland.
Ukraine also recalled the ambassador to the Council of Europe “for consultations” and announced the suspension of its work in the Parliamentary Assembly, and later refused to accept PACE observers at early parliamentary elections and canceled the meeting of the organization’s observation mission with President Vladimir Zelensky.
The Russian Federation has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1996. In 2014, the Russian delegation was deprived of the right to vote in the Parliamentary Assembly and a number of other powers due to the reunification of the Crimea with Russia. Moscow, in turn, ceased to participate in PACE meetings and ceased to transfer membership dues to the organization’s budget.
Shifting responsibility
As political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko said in an interview with RT, Poroshenko’s petition against Russia's return to PACE is primarily aimed at the Ukrainian voter.
“They are trying to collect more votes, and this in no way concerns the Council of Europe. This is an element of domestic political struggle and the mobilization of its electorate, ”Ischenko said in an interview with RT. “They will allegedly fight for the rights of Ukraine, which President Zelensky has neglected.”
The former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, immediately after the restoration of Russia's powers in PACE, began to actively use this occasion to criticize the new authorities of the republic. “Previously, we didn’t miss such attacks,” he wrote on his Facebook on June 25.
On June 28, Poroshenko declared that the return of Russia to PACE is the first step “in order for the Russians to start seeking recognition of the illegal annexation of the Crimea and the occupation of Donbass.”
Another representative of the European Solidarity, the deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Irina Gerashchenko, criticized President Vladimir Zelensky for refusing to meet with the Ukrainian delegation on the eve of the fateful PACE meeting and coordinate positions on the issue of Russia's return to the European structure. And in the opinion of the head of the delegation, the deputy of “European Solidarity” Vladimir Aryev, Zelensky in general should have consulted Poroshenko on this issue, who would suggest the right decision.
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Vyacheslav Kirilenko, also advancing in the early parliamentary elections from Poroshenko’s party, called the return of Russia to PACE the result of “the presidential elections in Ukraine and the inaction of the new president.”
However, Vladimir Zelensky himself said that he could not influence the decision to return Russia to PACE, since it had been made "for a long time." “I did everything that I can, but all this was already after the fact,” Zelensky justified.
In turn, the head of the Administration of the Ukrainian leader, Andrei Bogdan, blamed Petro Poroshenko for the incident.
“The reaction of PACE is a reaction of the world to Poroshenko’s behavior. This decision was made long ago, before our victory. He tried to delay him in every way, he did not fight the decision - he struggled with the date of its adoption, ”Bogdan said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on July 1.
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At the same time, Dmitry Razumkov, chairman of Zelensky’s “Servant of the People” party, criticized the behavior of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, saying that “it’s not constructive, it’s wrong to turn around and leave.”
As noted in an interview with RT by associate professor of MGIMO Kirill Koktysh, the exploitation of the topic of integration with Europe is one of the main goals of the Poroshenko program. He even called his party in such a way that, with the reduction, the EU turned out, the expert recalled, and now the ex-president contrasts his “successes” in this field with the policy of the new administration of Ukraine.
“Poroshenko simply has no other topics besides European that he could use with success for himself,” Koktysh said. “Yes, it will affect some part of the Ukrainians, but it is unlikely to give anything more.”
Weak prospects
According to experts, at the international level Poroshenko’s petition is doomed to failure.
“Consideration of this petition in PACE is unrealistic. Who is Poroshenko? He is now just a private individual, ”says Kirill Koktysh.
On June 26, the demarche of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE was supported by only a limited number of countries, but even they are not ready to go into conflict with the organization, experts say.
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Thus, Slovakia, which Kiev first recorded as its allies, disavowed the support of Ukraine. Poland limited itself to angry statements, saying that it was preparing a “joint resolution” of a number of countries on this issue. And the Latvian Foreign Ministry declared that the country would not, by the example of Ukraine, suspend participation in PACE activities. According to Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, his government does not support withdrawal from the Parliamentary Assembly in response to the return of the Russian delegation there. Representatives of Lithuania and Georgia also announced that they would continue to work in this international body.
Even the head of the British delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Roger Gale, although he condemned Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly, noted that Ukraine should not refuse to participate in the activities of this structure.
As for Ukraine itself, the country's foreign minister, Pavel Klimkin, and Kiev’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe, Dmitry Kuleba, said that Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly was the result of European attitudes towards “new normality” and reconciliation in relations with the Russian Federation. According to Ukrainian diplomats, Kiev will now have to live in a different reality.
“The delegations of the Baltic countries came out together with Ukraine from the hall, but five minutes later they returned - they said that they got excited and did not understand them so well. I think Ukraine will not dare to leave the PACE either, ”says Kirill Koktysh.
According to Rostislav Ishchenko, the current initiative of Poroshenko can only harm Ukraine.
“Even with all the nearness of Ukrainian politicians, they are well aware that if there is a consensus in Europe about the return of Russia, then no petition will help Ukraine, rather, it will even hurt, because it will be an annoying factor,” the political scientist said. “But Poroshenko’s domestic policy considerations prevail over foreign policy and even act to the detriment of Kiev’s interests in the international arena.”