Georgia, 6 others leave PACE assembly in protest as Russia regains voting right
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Members of the Georgian delegation and six other countries left a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) yesterday in protest as Russia regained its voting right after having lost it in 2014 following its annexation of the Crimea.
Russia, which earlier had declined to pay its membership dues, accepted to pay them, as well as fines, amounting to €75 million before regaining the right.
118 MPs voted for the return of Russia in PACE, 62 went against and ten refused to vote.
The delegations of Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia said that the PACE decision is unacceptable as Russia has not changed its attitudes and policy and continues to occupy the territories of sovereign countries.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani wrote on his official Twitter page that Georgia strongly opposed and still opposes the return of Russia to PACE, as Russia occupies the territories of Georgia and Ukraine.
Sad decision by @PACE_News! Like back in May, during the @coe Ministerial in Helsinki, Georgia principally opposed this decision. We are consistent to our position!
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) June 25, 2019
Immediately after the rights of the Russian delegation in PACE were restored, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko announced their departure, saying that PACE “sold its values for €75 million”.
He said that PACE “lost the hearts” of millions of people due to the decision, including the heats of Georgians, Estonians, Britons and others.
When Putin re-starts killing, you will also be responsible for that," Honcharenko told the audience.
Georgia, Ukraine and the Baltic States strongly opposed the decision of the Committee of Ministers at Deputy Level in the Council of Europe (CoE) in May, held during the CoE Helsinki ministerial, which spoke in favor [1,2 points] of Russia regaining its voting right in PACE.
The final decision was up to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Georgia expressed its hope that PACE would not allow the return of the right to Russia as the country continues rough violation of human rights.
The 47-member council – which is not linked to the European Union – promotes democracy and the rule of law across Europe.