On Wednesday, Thorbjorn Jagland, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said that the organization might expel Russia if Moscow would not resume payments to its budget.
"Today's destructiveness of the organization and its entities, including the PACE [the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe], demonstrates that, perhaps, we should ourselves think about suspending or freezing Russia’s membership of the Council of Europe before some anti-Russian daredevils start the cancellation process," Slutsky told reporters.
"Jagland makes such statements as a secretary general driven into a corner," Slutsky stated.
Russia to Decide on Membership in Council of Europe by January
Moscow will make a final decision on its further participation in the Council of Europe until January 2019, Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko stated.
"Russia will make a final decision on further participation in the Council of Europe by January," Matviyenko said.
The official noted that the decision would depend on the progress in the situation around the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
"The PACE's discriminating decision on Russia contradicts law and democratic principles," Matviyenko said.
On October 10, Thorbjorn Jagland, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said that the organization might expel Russia if Moscow would not resume payments to its budget.
Since 2016, the Russian delegation at PACE has not been renewing its credentials ahead of the assembly’s sessions in protest of the discrimination within the organization.
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On Tuesday, Slutsky said Russia was highly unlikely to resume its work in the PACE the next year in the wake of the postponement of the recent discussion of the amendments to PACE rules on credentials and rights of national delegations.
