Russia to cut payments to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergei Naryshkin said that Russia was not going to refuse from the financial support for the entire structure of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. However, Russia will reduce the amount of payments, and that would be fair, the official said.

After the PACE deprived Russia of the right to vote, a reasonable question arose: why pay contributions to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, along with all other members?

Having reproached the Russian Federation of the reunification with the Crimea and the situation in eastern Ukraine, the board decided not to exclude Russia from the PACE, as the organization would thus have to bid farewell to Russia's fee as well.  Russia has been represented in the Assembly since 1996. The PACE deprived Russia of the right to vote. Russia was also left without representatives in the governing bodies of the Assembly before the end of the year. To crown it all, Russia was left without an opportunity to participate in observer missions.

State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said: "We will continue paying our fees, as  the Russian contribution pays for the work of the entire structure of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe includes the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly and the so-called Venice Commission. In the event the PACE does not retrieve the rights of the Russian parliamentary delegation in full, then we'll figure it out how to go with the amount of the Russian contribution."

The budget of the Council of Europe in 2014 amounted to more than 400 million euros, of which Russia's fee amounted to 32.3 million euros, which was a very  significant amount.