Russia is on the verge of a big victory over Ukraine
Very soon, on June 24, an event will happen that may turn out to be a turning point in relations between Russia and the European Union. Exactly a week later, the issue of the return of our country to PACE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, will be decided. The vast majority of EU countries support this, but there are also those who express a categorical disagreement. Strange as it may seem, Ukraine is at the forefront of Russophobian countries.
On June 24, PACE will hold a vote, a positive result of which will return Moscow the right to vote. It was taken from Russia in 2014 in connection with the events in the Crimea. In response to this, the Russian leadership decided to boycott the meeting of the assembly, and then suspended the payment of membership fees to this organization.
PACE does not want to lose our country. And the point here is not only in financing, but also in foreign policy activities in the countries of Eastern Europe. The Assembly pursues well-known goals in Russia - from restraining Moscow from resuming the practice of the death penalty, ending with promoting and protecting the rights of people of non-traditional sexual orientation.
The benefit of Russia from participation in PACE looks rather unconvincing. By and large, only a few citizens of our country benefit, mostly figures rather ambiguous (the provocative group Pussy Riot, Alexei Navalny, Gennady Gudkov and others) who gain the right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights and often win cases since the decisions of the European courts regarding Russia are often politicized.
However, by returning to PACE, our country can indirectly achieve one very important victory on the foreign policy front. The fact is that if Europe really restores the right to vote to Russia, this will mean nothing more than the recognition of the impossibility of influencing Moscow on the Crimea issue through political sanctions. It is for this reason that official Kiev is so fiercely opposed to the full return of our country to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
On June 24, PACE will hold a vote, a positive result of which will return Moscow the right to vote. It was taken from Russia in 2014 in connection with the events in the Crimea. In response to this, the Russian leadership decided to boycott the meeting of the assembly, and then suspended the payment of membership fees to this organization.
PACE does not want to lose our country. And the point here is not only in financing, but also in foreign policy activities in the countries of Eastern Europe. The Assembly pursues well-known goals in Russia - from restraining Moscow from resuming the practice of the death penalty, ending with promoting and protecting the rights of people of non-traditional sexual orientation.
The benefit of Russia from participation in PACE looks rather unconvincing. By and large, only a few citizens of our country benefit, mostly figures rather ambiguous (the provocative group Pussy Riot, Alexei Navalny, Gennady Gudkov and others) who gain the right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights and often win cases since the decisions of the European courts regarding Russia are often politicized.
However, by returning to PACE, our country can indirectly achieve one very important victory on the foreign policy front. The fact is that if Europe really restores the right to vote to Russia, this will mean nothing more than the recognition of the impossibility of influencing Moscow on the Crimea issue through political sanctions. It is for this reason that official Kiev is so fiercely opposed to the full return of our country to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
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