OREANDA-NEWS. During the opening of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which took place today, January 25, in Strasbourg, the assembly deputies voted to appeal the powers of the Russian delegation. This initiative was made by the head of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, Maria Mezentseva.

She noted, that in 2019, the assembly welcomed the return of the Russian delegation, hoping for a dialogue with Moscow, but since then, the Russian authorities continue to violate the political and civil rights of their citizens and conduct a «campaign of persecution of the opposition leader». Mezentseva also recalled that Russia «stands behind human rights violations in the occupied territories» of Ukraine and does not comply with the PACE resolutions, which, in particular, referred to the condemnation of the annexation of Crimea. «On behalf of our colleagues, we challenge the rights of the Russian delegation on substantial grounds», Mezentseva said.

This initiative was supported by 38 deputies, representing more than five countries. Therefore, the chairman, without preliminary discussions, referred this issue to the PACE Monitoring Committee for consideration. The committee should now appoint a rapporteur to prepare a report and a resolution. In it, he can recommend confirming, not confirming, or confirming with restrictions the rights of the Russian delegation. The discussion of this issue is scheduled for Thursday, January 28.