The PACE spring session will be held on 19–22 April 2021 in Strasbourg in a hybrid format.
As Petr Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
said, the session’s
agenda would be quite full. It is planned that the Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel will address the participants of the spring session on April 20. President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu, President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić will also
address the Assembly. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja
Mijatović will present an annual report on organization’s activities for 2020. Minister
of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office Michael Roth will
address the European parliamentarians on April 22.
Petr Tolstoy added that members of the Russian delegation had prepared their own questions to the foreign politicians, including on such important issues as status of the Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine and the Baltic states, Ukrainian blockade of water to Crimea and why there were no reactions of the Council of Europe and leading European politicians.
Members of the Russian delegation also plan to draw attention of the European politicians to attempts to rewrite history and rehabilitate Nazism, violations of media freedom, situation of the civilians living in Donbass in connection with Ukraine's failure to fulfill the Minsk agreements.
“It is planned that during the session, there will be resolutions on the reports on preservation of national minorities in Europe, strategic priorities of the Council of Europe identified by the Assembly. This issue is especially relevant as this year marks the 25th anniversary of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe. The issues related to Belarus will also be discussed, despite the fact that this state is not a member of the Council of Europe,” stressed Petr Tolstoy.
In addition, the issues related to COVID-passports and COVID-19 vaccination certificates are also planned to be discussed during the spring session of PACE.
“The Russian delegation is ready to convey to the colleagues its position on all the issues and is ready to work actively during the upcoming session. The election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights according to the list of candidates presented by Belgium will also be one of the significant issues,” concluded the head of the delegation.
