PACE wants Russia back. Russia does not mind

PACE wants Russia back. Russia does not mind. 53944.jpeg

State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin said the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe would like to see Russia as its member again. Russia would return to PACE, should all its its adequate authorities in the organization be restored, the official said, RIA Novosti reports.

After the meeting with the PACE Presidential Committee, State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin said: "Today, the two sides voiced the desire to ensure that the Russian delegation fully worked on the platform of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and had all powers, first of all - the power to vote."

Sergei Naryshkin stressed out that the intention of the PACE Presidential Committee to return the Russian delegation did not give any guarantees, as it is the Assembly on the whole, but not a separate committee of the organization that should make such a decision, TASS reports.

According to the speaker, in April of 2014, the Russian delegation was denied the right to vote, the right to participate in meetings of statutory bodies and to monitor activities of the Assembly due to the fact that the PACE viewed Russia's reunification with the Crimea as "annexation."