Jagland confirms he is lobbying for Russia to return to PACE activity

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn
Jagland confirmed that he is actively lobbying for the Russian Federation to return
to becoming an active participant of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe in an interview published by the ft.com news site on Nov.
27. He has been traveling to European capitals warning officials of Russia’s
withdrawal if its demands aren’t met. Among Jagland’s main motivations to
keep Russia involved is to be able to keep advocating for human rights in
Russia and Crimea, stressing that role as the mandate that PACE has been
empowered with. Russian officials have not threatened to leave the Council of
Europe altogether, he said, but it could refuse to pay its membership fees or
fulfill rulings of the European Human Rights Court, which would lead to its
departure on its own will or at the initiative of other members.

Russia’s return to PACE without any preconditions
has long been Jagland’s position, said in response Iryna Herashchenko,
Ukraine’s deputy parliamentary speaker and member of Ukraine’s PACE
delegation. He is concerned about Russia remaining a territory of lawlessness
without its activity in PACE, she wrote on her Facebook page. “It doesn’t
occur to the Secretary General that if Europe allows Russia to violate basic
European principles and human rights, then Europe will be left without Europe
because it will be a different degenerated Europe,” she wrote.

Recall that 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. On Nov. 24, the
PACE standing committee decided to reject a request to hold debates on
removing sanctions against Russia and renewing its participation in the
Assembly’s activity.

Zenon Zawada: In our
view, Russia’s return to renewed activity in PACE is not a question of “if,”
but “when” and “on what conditions.” That’s what the current discussions are
examining. Any relaxed sanctions would be a victory for the Putin regime that
we believe would dramatically shift the tone in all major Western
institutions towards relaxing sanctions, which is why the Ukrainian
delegation is fighting hard any such a decision. Unfortunately, we believe
Ukraine’s slow progress in reforms and fighting corruption is causing
exhaustion among European leaders, who are looking for any excuse to renew
relations with Russia.