Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, has condemned attempts to lift restrictive measures against the permanent Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), bypassing the resolutions of the Assembly and amending the statutory documents that alter the fundamental principles of the organization's operations.
According to an UNIAN correspondent, this was stated in the resolution adopted by Parliament on a statement in connection with the situation in the PACE (No. 9089). The relevant resolution was backed by 242 MPs out of 352 registered in the session hall.
In addition to condemning the relevant developments, the document approves the statement of the Verkhovna Rada to parliaments of the member states of the Council of Europe in connection with the situation in PACE.
The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada is instructed to submit immediately the text of the statement to PACE and parliaments of the member states of the Council of Europe.
The decision comes into force from the date of its adoption.
The parliament stresses in the statement that the issue of powers of the national delegations to PACE has a decisive role for the work of the PACE as practical mechanisms for implementing the policy of the Council of Europe, monitoring compliance with the Statute of the Council of Europe, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and a wide range of responsibilities and obligations of the member states of the Council of Europe.
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The existing system of procedure rules, which provides for the appeal of powers of national delegations in essence and on formal grounds, is an effective PACE control mechanism for the compliance of member states with the principles and values of the Council of Europe, the statement says.
In conditions when the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly are experiencing one of the most difficult crises in their history, connected with the violation by the member state of the purpose and principles of the Council of Europe and avoiding voluntarily assumed duties and obligations, the rejection of the mechanisms of political influence on member states or substantial complication of the order of their application will cause irreparable harm to the Assembly, its monitoring procedure and the Council of Europe as a whole, the Ukrainian parliament says.
The Verkhovna Rada emphasizes that the preparation of a decision on amending the rules of procedure of the Assembly with regard to the abolition of opportunities to appeal the powers of national delegations on the merits or substantial complications of the procedure for such an appeal is politically motivated and aims to ensure unhindered and unconditional return of the delegation of the Russian Federation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe against the background of categorical refusal of this state to fulfill the legitimate demands of the Assembly related to the violation of the Council of Europe's Charter by Russia and voluntarily assumed duties and obligations, and support of the aggressive policies of the leadership of the Russian Federation by Russian parliamentarians.
The Ukrainian parliament noted that the preservation of the authority and political capacity of the Parliamentary Assembly in the face of current challenges in Europe was possible only if the existing institutional capacity was ensured of the Assembly and its mechanisms for carrying out its own policy.
Realizing that the destruction of the institutional framework will mean the recognition by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of its political failure to follow its own decisions and public demonstration of avoiding values and principles of the Council of Europe - the rule of law, democracy and human rights - will force the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its permanent delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to carry out a full revision of the principles on which cooperation with the Assembly is built, as well as mechanisms for such cooperation, the report reads.
