Ukrainian delegate: Russia's attempt to return to PACE failed
In a comment to InfoResist, Ukrainian MP and delegation representative to PACE Boryslav Bereza stated that Russia tried to blackmail PACE leadership into allowing the country to return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), but its attempts did not work.
According to Bereza, Russia refused to pay membership fees to PACE until it was reinstated in the organization.
"Russia is blackmailing the assembly by not paying. The financial leverage is very strong, [and] is still working through [Russian] lobbyists and the pro-Russian group of so-called sympathizing members of the Parliamentary Assembly," he said.
Such methods by Russia have disappointed other delegates, says Bereza: "And they have also disappointed the Russians themselves, who thought that they would be brought back calmly and without any conditions. But it turned out that their hopes were in vain. Therefore, they continue to try to return, by writing out one kind of scenario or another, and try to implement them."
Regarding Russia's chances of returning to PACE, Bereza noted that there is always a possibility.
"There was a chance [they would] return in the winter, the same as there was [a chance] last year. A chance is always there. In order to do so, all that would need to be done is to start implementing resolutions in the Parliamentary Assembly. [And] to do that, they simply need to stop ignoring the demands of Ukraine and the EU," the MP said.