Ukraine won’t participate in PACE fall session, People’s Servant MP says

The Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe won’t participate in its fall session between Sept. 30
and Oct. 4, according to its official statement published on Sept. 23 by
People’s Servant MP Yelyzaveta Yasko on her Facebook page. “This will be a way
for Ukraine to react to the return of the Russian Federation to the PACE
session hall without fulfilling the demands of the Assembly’s resolutions that
were approved in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” said the
statement posted by Yasko, who is the delegation’s new head.

Instead of attending the session, delegations from
Ukraine and PACE will conduct consultations “with the goal of finding common
approaches and solutions to enable PACE to recover its reputation as an
important model for democracy, rule of law and the protection of human rights
and freedom in Europe.” The statement also calls for Council of Europe
member-states to conduct consultations on the consequences of returning Russia
to PACE and developing effective mechanisms to hold accountable those states
violating the statues of the Council of Europe and norms of international law.