MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe cannot be an observer at Russia's upcoming elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, after depriving the Russian PACE delegation of its rights, Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said Thursday.
"With its undemocratic decision…to limit the Russian parliament delegation's rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe made impossible its own participation as observers at the Russian parliamentary elections," Naryshkin told reporters.
"Obviously, invitations will be sent to representatives of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization], the Parliamentary Assembly of Russia and Belarus. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, of course," he stated.
