PACE May Limit Russia’s Rights in June Until 2016 - President

PACE stripped Russia of its accreditation in April 2014 in response to Crimea's reunification with Russia and the start of the Ukraine crisis. At the January session, the Assembly voted to prolong the restrictions.

STRASBOURG (Sputnik) — If members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) vote to prolong restrictions against Russia this summer, the rights of the Russian delegation will be limited until January 2016, PACE President Anne Brasseur said Friday.

On Monday, Brasseur told Sputnik that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss Russia's credentials at its next session in June.

"I can not get ahead of ourselves, talk about the results, but if they [PACE members] will vote for the complete rescinding of [the Russian delegation's] credentials, it will last until the end of the PACE session, until January 2016," Brasseur said, answering a question on the Russian delegation’s prospects in June.

The head of the Assembly specified that at the next PACE session in January 2016, the credentials of all national delegations will again be on the agenda.

However, the PACE president stressed that it would be a real mistake not to try to engage in dialogue with Russia despite the Russian delegation’s absence this year.

PACE stripped Russia of its accreditation in April 2014 in response to Crimea's reunification with Russia and the start of the Ukraine crisis, prompting a walkout by the Russian delegation. At the January session, the Assembly voted to prolong the restrictions against Russia.

On Monday, Sergei Naryshkin, speaker of Russia's lower parliamentary house, said Russia would only return to PACE after its credentials had been fully restored.

PACE was established in 1949 and prior to 1974 was known as the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE). It includes representatives from the parliaments of 47 CoE member states.

Russia joined PACE in 1996. The Russian Federal Assembly PACE delegation has a quota of 18 seats, 12 for Russia's lower parliamentary house and six for its higher.