In April 2014, the assembly suspended Russia's voting rights in PACE, following Crimea's reunification with the country in March. In protest, the Russian delegation walked out of the assembly's spring session and did not attend its summer session.
According to PACE procedures, the credentials of all delegations are updated at the opening of the winter session.
PACE kicks off at 11.30 CET by reviewing all 47 of its new national delegations, listed here http://t.co/zhTQlrM0lD pic.twitter.com/gvuLig9FSV
— PACE news (@PACE_News) 26 января 2015
Earlier in January, media reports suggested that the Netherlands prepared a draft resolution suspending Russia's voting rights until 2016. However, members of the Dutch delegation to PACE told Sputnik they were unaware of the alleged resolution.
The Russian delegation is still undecided on whether it will take part in the upcoming session and might consider entirely suspending its work in PACE for at least a year, should it be deprived of voting rights, according to Russian officials.
Neither the Ukrainian, nor the Russian delegation agrees with the provisions of the Assembly's draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and are preparing amendments to the document.
PACE is also expected to discuss the January 7 terrorist attacks in Paris, France, as well as intolerance and discrimination in Europe at a meeting on January 29.
The five-day PACE winter session is set to conclude on Friday, January 30.
