Russia pulling out of PACE until end of 2015 — delegation head Pushkov

The Russian delegation is pulling out of the sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and will suspend all contacts with PACE until the end of the year, delegation head Alexei Pushkov has said.

«We are pulling out of PACE until the end of the year,» Pushkov told reporters on Wednesday, after PACE again suspended the Russian delegation’s voting rights and its right to be represented in some of the assembly’s ruling bodies for the period up to April.

In addition to that, Russia will suspend any contacts with PACE until the end of 2015, he said.

In April 2014, PACE suspended both Russia’s voting rights and its right to sit on the assembly’s governing bodies following Crimea’s reconnection with Russia in March. The Russia delegation at PACE dismissed such measures as «discriminatory» and decided to stay away during the summer and autumn sessions of the assembly.

The credentials of the national delegations at PACE were approved on Monday. However, a group of more than 30 parliamentarians lodged a protest against a decision to approve the Russian delegation’s credentials, promoting a separate debate on this matter on Wednesday.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine