The Russian
Federation had fulfilled all the obligations undertaken when Russia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1996, as said Deputy Chairman of the State
Duma, PACE Vice-President, head of the Russian delegation to PACE PetrTolstoy
Petr Olegovich
,
following a meeting of members of the Russian delegation with co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee.
The rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee, PACE Vice-President Ria Oomen-Ruijten (the Netherlands) and member of the Committee Axel Schäfer (Germany), are paying a visit to Moscow. It is expected that they will hold meetings with representatives of the Russian authorities and public organizations. The main purpose of the visit is to collect information within the framework of the monitoring mission in terms of fulfilling the obligations undertaken by the Russian Federation when our state joined the Council of Europe. It is assumed that the report on the results of the monitoring should be presented by June 2022.
“The Council of Europe has been monitoring Russia, one of the major contributors, for 25 years, and we are not happy with this situation, but at the same time we are ready to hold meetings with co-rapporteurs of the Committee in our country, give explanations on any issues and provide all the necessary information. But we are against double standards, unfounded accusations and retroactive inclusion of more and more new requirements for Russia, and we respect everyone who does not make a show at the Assembly’s meetings and does not try to hamper our country. During the meeting with the co-rapporteurs, we once again emphasized that all the resolutions on non-recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia would be null and void for us, and their implementation would be out of the question,” said Petr Tolstoy.
He added that “Russia, in turn, is concerned about the situations with human rights in France, the Netherlands, Germany and the annexation of the Falkland Islands by the United Kingdom.” “But we do not allow ourselves to lecture anyone, and even more to interfere in the internal affairs of other states,” stressed the parliamentarian.
Petr Tolstoy also recalled that Russia had consistently and for a long-time favored reforming the monitoring procedures: not country-by-country monitoring, but missions should examine particular issues, as that would help to avoid drawing dangerous dividing lines between the member states of the Council of Europe.
