PACE to review resolution today to allow Russian delegation to return

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) will review today, on the opening day of its summer session, a
resolution that will allow the Russian delegation to return to its activity and
avoid renewed sanctions, the eurointegration.com.ua news site reported. The
resolution calls for prohibiting the denial of a national delegation the right
to vote, address the assembly and well as being represented in the assembly and
its bodies. It was approved by its rules committee at its June 3 session. Restricted
sanctions may be applied to Russia even if the resolution is approved, the news
site reported.

Meanwhile, the Russian delegation announced its
intention to return to PACE’s work on June 25 should the resolution be
approved, the tass.ru news site reported on June 19. The delegation has
prepared a list of 18 delegates, four of which fall under personal EU sanctions
restricting their travel. Yet the restrictions don’t apply to international
organizations in the EU, the eurointegration.com.ua news site said.

The Russian delegation has significant chances of
returning to PACE if the resolution is approved, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin
told the 5 Kanal television network in a June 23 interview. He said the danger
lies in this becoming the first step to a new normalcy in relations with
Russia. “Many European countries want to buy predictability in their relations
with Russia in this way,” Klimkin said. “They understand that Russia is the way
it is, they want to have levers of influence on Russia and keep it in the
Council of Europe. I believe that this is a bad and faulty strategy by its
definition.”

Zenon Zawada: Even if the resolution isn’t approved today, the political trends are
working in favor of Russia’s return to PACE under the outlined conditions. And
Klimkin is correct in stating that Russia’s return to PACE would set a new tone
of normalcy for the West in dealing with Russia. Russia’s return to PACE under
the resolution’s conditions would mark the first step of a thawing in relations
between the West and Russia, which is why it’s significant. Although PACE
doesn’t have legislative authority in its member-states, it has the ability to
set norms and standards that are ultimately adopted by national legislatures,
and the EU parliament.