“There can be different victories. The deserved ones are the best. It was extremely difficult, but Ukraine is worthy of this PACE victory, for we are right.” This is the way Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin commented on the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to suspend the Russian delegation’s voting rights.
This became possible after the Ukrainian delegation had moved some amendments. In particular, it called for renewing sanctions against Russia and suspending the Russian delegation’s right to vote until the next PACE session in April. This was done. Moreover, in line with a Ukrainian amendment, PACE issued an ultimatum to Russia that it should free the Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko “within 24 hours.” It will be recalled that Savchenko was elected to the Verkhovna Rada on the BYuT ticket and is member of the Ukrainian delegation in PACE. Therefore, she has diplomatic immunity.
The Russian delegates, who had been blackmailing PACE with Savchenko’s destiny (Russia said, in particular, that it would allow visiting Savchenko if PACE did not deny its delegation the right to vote), announced that they would withdraw from PACE until the end of the year. According to Deutsche Welle, PACE thus “issued a challenge to Russia.”
Meanwhile, representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus, and Serbia voted against the suspension of Russia’s right to vote.
Expert Volodymyr HORBACH explains these countries’ position by the fact that some of them, particularly Armenia, are critically dependent on Russia. “Some of these countries are not afraid to be Russia’s successors. They show sort of opposition in Europe and want to sell it at an as high price as possible either to Russia or to the EU,” he concluded.
Volodymyr ARIEV, head of Ukraine’s permanent delegation in PACE, told The Day in a comment that “failure to suspend the Russians’ voting rights in PACE would promote escalation.” After the Savchenko resolution was passed, he wrote in Facebook that Ukrainian delegates had addressed themselves to PACE President Anne Brasseur. “She promised to send a note to Lavrov, demanding that Nadia Savchenko, who enjoys the maximum level of diplomatic immunity during a PACE session, be freed,” Ariev pointed out.
At the same time, Russian oppositional politician Boris NEMTSOV believes that Russia’s withdrawal from PACE is part of Putin’s plan. “He is fed up with answering ticklish questions about the war, annexation, aggression against Ukraine, and his violation of Russia’s international commitments. He is going to continue waging the war, and his plans do not include being slapped for his inadequacy,” Nemtsov says.
The Day requested Oleksandr SUSHKO, director of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, to comment on the PACE voting and the suspension of Russia’s voting rights in this organization.
“I understand the logic of those who say that it is wrong to isolate Russia, stop the dialog, and deny it the right to vote. I agree that the aggressor should also be drawn into a dialog, for otherwise it will be even more aggressive. But, as for more concrete sanctions imposed on Russia last year for the annexation of Crimea, there are no grounds for lifting them. Russia has shown no changes in its behavior. Under these conditions, it would be absolutely wrong to lift the sanctions in question.
“I am far from speaking in this situation in the categories of ‘victory’ and ‘defeat.’ It is a real success of the Ukrainian delegation which managed to get the upper hand because other options were also discussed. Those who favored ‘pardoning’ Russia were a step away form success. This is a triumph of justice. I wouldn’t nurse a hope that Russia will reconsider its policies at this stage. It is a logical punishment.”
Can the PACE decision provoke Russia to continue aggression?
“This assumption is expressed every time Ukraine or the Western community tries to get the aggressor punished. By this logic, the aggressor should only be encouraged, for, God forbid, it will be more aggressive. The aggressor will react depending on the way we perceive this. Such reasoning as ‘let us not punish the aggressor’ is very harmful, for it won’t solve the problem. On the contrary, history shows that in most cases appeasing the aggressor results in aggressive actions.”
PACE issued an ultimatum to Russia to free Nadia Savchenko “within 24 hours.” What do you think of this?
“It is difficult to forecast here. I am not optimistic over this. It is not about some changes. But, on the other hand, Savchenko has now diplomatic immunity at the level of the Council of Europe. And Russia is in conflict not with Ukraine, its parliament or government, but with such an international organization as the Council of Europe and international law. I do not expect Russia to take prompt actions in this matter. However, breaking diplomatic immunity is a serious misdeed that will not remain unpunished.”