PACE Should Address Refugee Issue, Temporary Forget About Russia - Lawmaker

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should address the ongoing refugee crisis in the European Union, as well as the Ukrainian conflict and temporary forget about Russia, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the lower house of Russia's parliament said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian parliament low chamber's committee on Eurasian integration said the Russian delegation would not participate in the upcoming winter PACE session nor would it present its PACE credentials.

The following day, PACE head Anne Brasseur announced that the Russian delegation would not be able to participate in any kind of PACE work in 2016 as it had not presented all the necessary documents.

"PACE should temporary forget about Russia. PACE doesn't have levers of influence on us in our absence. And [it should] address Ukraine, refugees and attacks on women," Alexei Pushkov wrote in his Twitter account ahead of the PACE winter session scheduled for January 25-29 in Strasbourg.

An April 2014 PACE resolution deprived the Russian delegation of its voting rights, following Crimea’s joining Russia. Russian lawmakers were barred from participating in PACE's three key bodies — its bureau, its presidential committee and the standing committee.

The 2014 resolution curbing Russia’s rights in PACE was extended in April 2015, whereas a reconfirmation of the delegation's credentials was scheduled for the winter session.