Languages

Russia might leave Council of Europe

Russia and the PACE

The Russian delegation to the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will recommend President Medvedev to take Russia out of the organisation should it decide to deprive the country of its voting rights.

Location

The Russian delegation leader to the assembly Konstantin Kosachev says however that he finds it highly unlikely that the decision will be taken.

A group of twenty-four members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Friday submitted a request for the reconsideration of the previously ratified credentials of the Russian delegation to PACE “on substantive grounds”, ahead of the Assembly’s forthcoming plenary session in Strasbourg (29 September-3 October).

Seriously concerned about the conflict opposing two member states of the Council of Europe in the South Caucasus, we the undersigned, demand the Assembly to reconsider – on the basis of Rule 9.1.a. of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly – the ratified credentials of the Russian delegation on the grounds of serious violations of the basic principles of the Council of Europe mentioned in the Preamble to the Statute,” the signatories write, the organisation’s website informs.