Russia Suspends Membership in PACE

The Russian parliament (first the Federation Council (upper house), then the State Duma (lower house)) has adopted a draft declaration on the cessation of participation of the Russian delegation in the activities of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, instructed the International Committee of the Federation Council to immediately inform the OSCE PA about the suspension of the Russian delegation's participation in the organization.

“I ask Grigory Borisovich (the head of the Federation Council's International Committee, Karasin - ed.) to immediately send telegrams to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which is currently convened in Romania, after the senators' vote, so that if there are at least some hints of diplomacy or conscience left with them, they can express their views on the statement from the Federation Council regarding their activities. Please try to do this as promptly as possible, as we agreed,” Matvienko said during the council's plenary session.

The document states that the Russian delegation in the OSCE PA has repeatedly been deprived of the opportunity to continue dialogue, participate fully and equally in plenary sessions and the assembly's leading bodies' activities under fictitious pretexts.

Russian senators and State Duma deputies are confident that the imposition of restrictions on participation in the activities of the OSCE PA against parliamentarians expressing the will and interests of the people is unacceptable.