MOSCOW - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will send two missions to Russia in the nearest future, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, said.
The committee and members of the parliamentary delegation are now discussing the situation in PACE and further actions taken by Russia in interaction with this structure.
“Two delegations, one on the Savchenko case and the other on the Crimea dossier, are expected to come to Russia in the nearest future. The resolution adopted by PACE calls on the speakers of the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments to create a working group to promote the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements,” Kosachev said.
The senator also said many people are now concerned about the financial relations between the Russian parliament and PACE.
“We are the main payer to the Council of Europe and the main issue for us now is our relations with the Council of Europe in general, our membership in this organization, although it is clear that it’s an issue of a presidential level,” Kosachev said.
However, he said he believes parliamentary diplomacy and the Federal Assembly have a right to have their own viewpoint here.
Analyzing the outcome of the PACE January session, Kosachev said all members of the delegations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey voted in support of the Russian delegation.
“All members of the delegations of Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia and Iceland voted in support of Russia’s position and the delegations of Germany, the Czech Republic, and Denmark were divided approximately evenly,” Kosachev said.
“Today we will brainstorm and determine the strategy of our actions, and the results of this strategy will be reported to the administrations of both chambers of the parliament,” Kosachev said.
On January 28, PACE refused to reinstate the powers of the Russian delegation to vote and participate in the PACE administrative bodies, which were taken away from the Russian delegation in April 2014. PACE extended the sanctions until April 2015, accusing Russia of aggravating the situation in eastern Ukraine.
