MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) – The effectiveness of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is undermined by the fact that members only work to serve their own interests and those of the US State Department, Russian lawmaker Ruslan Gattarov told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“Judging by my own experience in PACE, I can say the European members are actively discussing, lobbying and implementing only what is beneficial for them,” said Gattarov, a member of the Federation Council’s Information Policy Committee.
“And this also applies to any motions against Russia. They are quick to propose them, scold Russia and approve these initiatives. Apparently, their American partners play no small part in such discussions,” he added.
At the same time, when the Russian delegation raised an issue of personal data protection in Europe, they attempted to remove it from the agenda, according to Gattarov.
“They show unanimity. But you shouldn’t count on any effective work coming from PACE,” Gattarov said.
Gattarov called the potential Russian withdrawal from the organization a “political spectacle” forced by the US Department of State and a number of European countries.
Such behavior is unacceptable for PACE, he said, as the assembly should maintain a strong independent stance. Instead, the council fully supports the United States and those critical of Russia.
“I get the feeling there is a never-ending Cold War on the part of the West,” Gattarov concluded.
The spring PACE session will be held in Strasbourg from Monday until Sunday. The motion to strip the Russian delegation of its powers due to its actions in Crimea is to top the agenda of the meeting. Britain’s Robert Walter has launched an initiative – already signed by 74 PACE members – to terminate the Russian delegation’s voting powers until the end of the year.
Another proposal to deprive Russia of its voting rights was submitted by Denmark’s Michael Aastrup Jensen and has been backed by 53 members.
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, adopted a resolution last week warning the assembly not to make such a decision. Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Russian delegation, said the country’s delegates would walk out of the assembly at the first sign of a vote on their sanctioning.
