MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The OSCE PA winter session will be held in Vienna in late February.
"Naturally, we will not pass over a discussion of the situation in Ukraine, including on respect for human rights," Nikolai Kovalev told RIA Novosti.
One cannot exclude that Russia will face criticism over the Ukraine crisis from some members of the assembly, he noted. "Most likely, they will try to blame us for human rights violations in Ukraine and Crimea," Kovalev stressed.
"The topic of Syria will certainly be voiced," he added.
An idea of setting up an analogue of Interpol to fight terrorists will also be raised by the assembly’s special envoy for the anti-terror fight, Kovalev outlined.
"Let’s create in the OSCE region a coordinating body that will determine whether it is a terror or not, to define goals, objectives… In other words, to create a strong, consistent international coalition against terrorism," he explained.
On February 11, Kovalev said Austria had agreed to allow the entry of Russian lawmakers, including those under sanctions, to attend an OSCE PA session.
Finland denied entry visas in July 2015 to a group of Russian lawmakers, blacklisted by the European Union over the Ukrainian crisis, intending to take part in the OSCE PA summer session. The entire Russian delegation withdrew from the parliamentary session in protest of Helsinki’s denial.
