MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2019) The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) decision to restore the rights of the Russian delegation has undermined Ukraine's credibility to Germany, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk said.
PACE ratified the Russian delegation's credentials on June 26. The country thus returned to the institution after boycotting its sessions since 2016 because of being slapped with sanctions over Russia's alleged role in the Ukrainian conflict and Crimea's reunification with Russia.
"Whoever in Germany and the German Foreign Ministry is responsible for that, the Ukrainians believe that it was a fatal mistake. Last but not least that undermined Kiev's credibility to Germany," Melnyk told Die Welt newspaper.
He described the PACE decision to restore the rights of the Russian delegation as destructive and expressed regret that eight German lawmakers had supported the move. The ambassador especially pointed out the role of the head of the German delegation to PACE, Andreas Nick, from the ruling Christian Democratic Union.
Following Crimea's reunification with Russia back in 2014, the country's delegation to 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 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.
