PACE To Review Powers Of Russian Delegation On January 26

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) intends to review the powers of the Russian delegation on January 26.

Yevheniya Kravchuk, Deputy Chairperson of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, announced this on Facebook and Oleksii Honcharenko, MP from the European Solidarity faction, on his Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"We have launched a procedure for appealing the powers of the Russian delegation to PACE. We are expecting voting on Wednesday," Kravchuk wrote.

The MP said that she filed an appeal on the grounds of the procedure, since the Russian parliament was formed based on the results of elections, including votes from the illegally occupied territory of Crimea.

"I reminded my foreign colleagues of the position of the Venice Commission on the inclusion of an internationally unrecognized territory in the national electoral district for parliamentary elections, which explicitly states: the organization of elections in the annexed territory does not justify and cannot justify annexation," Kravchuk said.

She also said that another appeal was initiated by the head of the Lithuanian delegation, Emanuelis Zingeris.

In order to challenge the powers of the delegation, according to the rules of PACE, the support of 30 parliamentarians from five countries was needed.

According to the rules of the assembly, a report will be drawn up with a list of restrictions on powers, which will be voted on.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in January 2020, PACE reviewed the powers of the Russian delegation and eventually approved them.