Russia to skip PACE January session
Russia will not send its delegation to the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as no amendments have been introduced on protecting national delegations from discrimination, Deputy State Duma Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy told TASS on Thursday.
"Russia’s delegation won’t be represented in PACE in January as the significant condition of our work there, namely the guarantees of non-discrimination of national delegations’ rights, has not been introduced in this organization’s regulations," said Tolstoy, who is in charge of international cooperation at the lower house of parliament.
"That’s why Russia’s decision to abstain from the work in PACE in the plenary format remains in force until the regulations are changed," he said.
The Russian official stated that any discrimination of national delegations first and foremost harms the organization itself.