Leonid Slutsky
Moscow does not consider it possible to pay contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe (COE), while the regulations of the Council of Europe parliamentary Assembly allows to deprive of the national delegation of key powers. This was stated by the Chairman of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Leonid Slutsky, “the Tape.ru” on Monday, July 3.
“Russia does not see sense to work in such an organization, especially at their own expense. But as soon as the situation changes, and our delegation will return to this viewpoint, the volume contribution is likely to be revised again and returned to the previous level”, — said the Deputy.
He stressed that the decision to freeze payment should not affect full membership of Russia in the Council of Europe, as Moscow has voluntarily committed itself to be among the major contributors of the organization. “Countries adopt and put such powers unilaterally. It is the sovereign right of each country and does not apply to section compliance with mandatory procedures,” — said Slutsky.
Earlier on Monday, the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko said that the Russian side expects the adoption of adequate solutions regarding its powers in the PACE and insists on changing the procedural rules of the Assembly, which would not be allowed to continue to deny the authority of the national delegation.
On June 30, Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed the COE Secretary General thorbjørn Jagland about the freezing of the contribution to the budget of the CE in 2017 to restore the full authority of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of Russia in PACE. It was emphasized that the Russian side will continue to perform its obligations informed by Council of Europe conventions.
Russia in PACE was deprived of the right to vote and excluded from all governing bodies in April 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. The Russian Federation is one of the major contributors to the budget of the Council of Europe, along with France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Turkey.