Anti-Russian steps of PACE to damage PACE itself - Matviyenko
MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - In the case that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passes anti-Russian documents, the Russian delegation will leave the meeting, but this situation will damage the PACE itself, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
When asked by reporters about the fact that the PACE was preparing a harsh resolution on Russia's actions regarding Ukraine and Crimea, Matviyenko said that such PACE decisions would be unacceptable for the Russian delegation.
"In this case our delegation will leave the PACE but the very PACE itself will be affected by this first of all. We expect a civilized dialogue but if this does not happen, the PACE will lose significantly more than we will. It should not be forgotten that namely our country is the biggest payer in this European structure," she said.
The Russian delegation in the PACE will not permit a discriminating vote to take away its powers and will leave the spring session of the PACE, Russian State Duma international affairs committee head Alexei Pushkov said earlier on Tuesday.
At the same time, Matviyenko said she counted on common sense and that unfair and groundless accusations would not be leveled against the Russian delegation.
"We will go to the PACE April session and will defend our stance," she said.
The Russian delegation will reasonably explain its stance within the PACE, assuming international legal standards and all international documents, including those of the UN, Matviyenko said. "We have something to say to our colleagues, though we are aware that anti-Russian hysteria is being prepared [in the PACE]. However, we count on the common sense of our PACE colleagues and that there will be no harsh resolutions, which would infringe the rights of our delegation in any way," she said.
The anti-Russian hysteria being prepared in the PACE has been ordered, Matviyenko said.
"If we come across an unwillingness to listen to us and hostile anti-Russian hysteria, we reserve the right to make the decision [to leave] and we should show that we are not ready to fold our hands and listen to unfair reproaches towards Russia," she said.
In this case, the best decision for Russia will be to leave the PACE session, Matviyenko said.