PACE to challenge powers of Russian delegation, source says

Monday, January 26, 2015 - 11:40 (EET) Section: Latest news

Confirmation of powers of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and possible prolongation of the sanctions against it will be one of the main topics of the Assembly’s winter session, which has opened in Strasbourg on Monday.
In accordance with the regulations of the PACE, January 1, 2015, all the powers of the Russian delegation will be automatically restored. However, on the first day of the session, the powers of the Russian delegation will be challenged, an Ukrinform correspondent has found out from a source familiar with the situation.
“Although according to the regulations of the Assembly, the official delegation of Russia has restored its powers, which it was previously deprived of, I have information that on Monday they will be challenged,” the official said.
This information has been indirectly confirmed by Polish MP Tadeusz Iwinski, who in an interview with the Polish National Radio had noted that sanctions against Russia would be put on the agenda of the meeting of the winter session because of shelling of Mariupol.
As reported, last year, at the PACE session in April, the Russian delegation was deprived of voting powers and its representatives were excluded from all the PACE governing bodies until January 2015 due to the annexation of Crimea by Russians.