PACE WILL RECONSIDER RUSSIA’S CREDENTIALS

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“The Assembly considers that the recent war between Russia and Georgia, two member states of the Organisation, constitutes in itself a serious violation of the Statute of the Council of Europe and has led to further infringements by Russia, as well as Georgia, of their obligations and commitments as member states of the Council of Europe. However, the committee finds it essential at this stage to ensure that dialogue and mutual building of trust can be pursued between the two sides, but also between each of them and our Assembly. In order for this dialogue to be constructive and meaningful, it is essential that Russia implements the EU-brokered cease-fire agreement and in particular withdraws its troops to positions ex ante the war and allows the deployment of European Union and OSCE monitors,” runs the draft resolution to be put on the PACE agenda in a few hours.

Today the PACE will reconsider previously ratified credentials of the Russian delegation on substantial grounds. Swedish delegate Andreas Gross has drafted a resolution on Russia.

“I think it is essential at present to put an end to this war, as well as the human rights and humanitarian law violations. We must stop the human suffering pending the outcome of an independent international investigation, which could shed light on the exact circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war.

At the same time, we need to spell out a road-map to overcome the crisis in the short, medium and long-term. This has been the task of the co-rapporteurs on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia and I fully subscribe to the concrete proposals they have made.

However, both sides should now show political will to respect this road-map. It is of the utmost importance in this respect that Russia implements the cease-fire agreement and in particular withdraws its troops to positions ex ante the conflict, allows the deployment of EU and OSCE monitors in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and withdraws its recognition of independence of the two regions, which at present hinders the implementation of the cease-fire agreement and the provision of humanitarian aid to these areas.

In this respect, I also wish to stress that Russia is now urgently expected to play a constructive role and demonstrate its will to contribute to the peaceful settlement of other conflicts on the territory of former Soviet republics. This is in particular the case of Sevastopol as well as of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Assembly should look closely into action taken by Russia in this respect and support any approach which is in the mutual interest of all those concerned.

In view of the above-mentioned considerations, I propose to the Assembly to confirm at present the ratification of the credentials of the Russian parliamentary delegation, it being understood that, at any moment, members can seize the Assembly of the matter of the credentials, in accordance with the Rules, if there are indications that steps to implement the action required by the Russian authorities in the implementation of the road-map are not taken or that progress is too slow or insufficient.

Karine Asatryan

Strasburg