PACE approves resolution restoring Russian participation, voting rights

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) approved a resolution on June 24 enabling the Russian delegation to
return to its work and its right to vote. The unprecedented night vote in
Strasbourg drew a higher quorum than usual, with 118 MPs in favor, 62 against
and 10 abstaining. The French and Italian delegations voted fully in favor,
while the Germany delegation offered 11 votes in favor and two against.
Although outgoing British PM Theresa May endorsed the resolution, the British
delegation voted against it, along with the delegates of those nations most
threatened by Russia, including Poland and the Baltic states.

Besides no restriction on the Russian delegation’s
right to vote, the resolution enables Russia to submit its list of delegates
during the middle of the session (instead of at the beginning). “At the same
time, the right to fully deny a state’s delegation in affirming its authority
remains,” the eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. “It’s also likely that
detailed targeted sanctions can be approved, but the resolution isn’t clear on
that. Among PACE deputies are discrepancies in the document’s norms, the
positions on which should be agreed upon in the nearest days.”

In response, the Ukrainian delegation announced this
morning it will abandon its participation in PACE’s summer session. Ukraine’s
Foreign Ministry said the renewal of the Russian delegation’s rights at PACE
will weaken the Council of Europe and undermine the transparency of its rules.
“This is clearly not the policy that could have halted Russian aggression,”
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Kateryna Zelenko said. “Quite the opposite, it
will weaken a respected institution, undermining its justice and the
transparency of the rules in the Council of Europe.” Meanwhile, the Ukrainian
delegation to PACE said it will appeal the decision, with several delegates
stating they won’t be attending PACE sessions with the Russians present. MP
Maria Ionova pointed out that six of 11 Russian delegates are under EU personal
sanctions, namely travel bans.

Recall, PACE suspended Russia’s voting rights and
participation in leading bodies in April 2014 after its military intervention
in Ukraine. In June 2014, Russia suspended its cooperation with PACE and left
its seats empty in January 2016. In June 2017, Russia announced it will
consider cutting financing for the Council of Europe. In May 2019, Ukrainian
Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Ukraine will abandon the Minsk Accords
process should PACE vote to remove sanctions against Russia.

Zenon Zawada: This is the
result that Russian President Putin had been patiently working towards for five
years. His war of attrition  against the Ukrainian state
was aimed exhausting the public politically, economically and morally. He also
expected the comfortable and tolerant Europeans to grow exhausted, a strategy
that has also worked. The Europeans rationalize this decision by arguing they
will have more influence on Russia by keeping its delegates active in PACE.
Thornbjorn Jagland also argued that the Council of Europe’s main mission is to
address human rights, not engage in geopolitics. He argued that the Council
would be better able to address the human rights of Crimean Tatars with Russia’s
return. But with this resolution, the Russians can instead lobby and convince
other members of their position on the Crimean Tatars.

As is widely acknowledged, PACE cannot affect
legislation in European countries. But this decision is what we have been warning about for more than two years
in that it sets a symbolic precedent for other
European legislatures to follow. It’s undeniable that this is a victory for the
Russians, and likely not the last as Russian-aligned populist-nationalists rise
to power in European legislatures.

In halting its participation in PACE, the Ukrainian
delegation will be allowing the Russians to make their arguments and cast their
votes without a strong counter-response. However, this decision has been made
by MPs who aren’t likely to return to the Ukrainian delegation after the July
parliamentary elections. So we believe the Ukrainian delegation is likely to
renew its participation in the fall session, particularly if Zelensky is
looking to make concessions to Russia. We also believe Ukraine won’t abandon
the Minsk Accords, as had been threatened by Klimkin. He won’t be foreign minister by autumn, and the Zelensky team isn’t
capable of drafting a new peace agreement (neither are Western leaders
interested).