ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko suggested that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) realizes that the frozen situation surrounding Russia's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) created risks for the CoE existence.
"The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe realizes that freezing of this situation brings risks for the existence of the Council of Europe. If we look into the statutory documents, the CoE charter, the European Convention on Human Rights, [we will see that] they include specific definitions of rights and obligations of member states. The most important thing is that the principle of equality of all states is written down there," Grushko told reporters.
The diplomat noted that stripping Russia of its voting right in the PACE contradicted the CoE statutory documentS, which ensured equal rights for all member states.
