Slovakian parliament speaker Andrej Danko expressed hope on Monday that all of the West's sanctions against Moscow would be lifted following Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2019) Slovakian parliament speaker Andrej Danko expressed hope on Monday that all of the West's sanctions against Moscow would be lifted following Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).Last week, PACE officially invited the Russian delegation to participate in its June session after restoring the rights it stripped from the group in 2014. Moscow then submitted an application to confirm its credentials in the assembly for the first time since 2016.
"I am proud that the Slovak Republic, in particular, its lawmakers, voted for Russia to fully work within PACE ... And since these sanctions by the Council of Europe were lifted, [I hope all Western] sanctions against Russia will be also lifted," he said.
Following Crimea's reunification with Russia back in 2014, the country's delegation within PACE had its voting rights revoked. Five years later, the West still refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Crimean referendum despite Russia maintaining that the vote was carried out in accordance with international law.
PACE's decision to restore Russia's full rights angered the Ukrainian delegation, which earlier had submitted 226 changes to a proposed resolution dedicated to the Russian delegation's return to the assembly. Following PACE's announcement, the delegations of Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia left the session.
