PACE Monitoring Committee recommends preserving Russian delegation’s mandate

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee approved the draft resolution, in which it recommends to confirm the Russian delegation’s mandate, challenged under Ukraine’s request in the beginning of the session, Russian delegation head, State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy said.

"The [Committee] meeting went well. A resolution was approved that confirms the mandate of our delegation," he said. "No conditions put before us are acceptable, no restrictions of our delegation will pass. The Committee supported no amendments," Tolstoy added, commenting on Ukrainian delegation’s attempts to introduce amendments that restrict the Russian delegation’s authority.

The initiative to challenge the Russian delegation’s mandate was put forth by the Ukrainian delegation head, the Servant of the People political party deputy Maria Mezentseva. Her requests was supported by 38 participants from at least five different national delegations, which was enough to hand the request over to the PACE Monitoring Committee. Meanwhile, 61 representative voted against the initiative, TASS reported.

The Monitoring Committee was ordered to prepare a report on this issue. The report was presented by Stefan Schennach, who presented a similar report in 2014. Now, the adopted bill will be discussed during the debate Thursday, which will be followed by final approval vote.