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PACE rejects motion to suspend credentials of Russian delegation

01 October 2009 13:02 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli â€“ APA. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held discussions on the report prepared by the Monitoring Committee rapporteur Andreas Gross concerning the suspension of the Russian delegationâ€™s credentials, APAâ€™s correspondent accredited in the Council of Europe reports. The majority of the parliamentarians voted to confirm the credentials of the Russian delegation. They underlined that the dialogue with Russian delegation is important.

16 changes were offered at the end of the discussions and 3 of them were accepted. 88 voted for and 35 against the resolution. The report says:
â€œThe Monitoring Committee reaffirms that the war between Georgia and Russia in itself constitutes a serious violation of the Statute of the Council of Europe, as well as of specific obligations and accession commitments of both countries. In this respect, the committee regrets that, one year after the war, most of the Assemblyâ€™s key demands have not been implemented and that very little progress has been made in addressing the consequences of the war in a satisfactory manner.
However, the committee recognises that, in such a complex situation as that of the consequences of the war, the fulfillment of the Assemblyâ€™s demands may not be easily achieved within the strict deadlines fixed. In addition, it acknowledges that these demands were directed to the Russian authorities whose policies are not in the hands of the members of the Russian delegation. Therefore, also taking into account the importance of a continued dialogue between the members of the Russian delegation and the Assembly, the committee proposes to confirm the ratification of the credentials of the Russian delegation to the Assembly.â€

On 11 September 2009, a motion (Doc. 12014 (2009)) was tabled by Michael Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and 71 other members, requesting the Parliamentary Assembly to reconsider the previously ratified credentials of the Russian delegation on substantive grounds, on the basis of Rule 9.1.a of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly, in view of the persistent failure of Russia to honour its obligations and commitments imposed upon it by the Assembly Resolutions 1633 (2008) and 1647 (2009) and its lack of co-operation in the Assemblyâ€™s monitoring procedure within the meaning of Rule 8.2.b of the Assemblyâ€™s Rules of Procedure.

This is the fourth motion presented to PACE within a year to suspend the credentials of the Russian delegation.

On September 28, the motion was presented to the Monitoring Committee at the meeting of PACE Bureau and to Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs. Monitoring Committee rapporteur Andreas Gross prepared a report on this issue.