From MT:
“Council of Europe Suspends
Russia Over Ukraine Invasion”
The Council of Europe was founded
after World War 2 to promote peace and democracy in Europe. The Council of
Europe said Friday it is suspending all representatives of Russia from
participation in the pan-European rights body over Moscow's attack against
Ukraine. Permanent representatives of its 47 member states "agreed to
suspend the Russian Federation from its rights of representation in the Council
of Europe," invoking Article 8 of its statute, a statement said. The
decision takes effect immediately and affects the rights of representation of
Russia in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE). However the decision does not affect the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is part of the Council of Europe. The Russian judge remains a member of the
court and applications introduced against Russia will continue to be examined
and decided by the court, it said. "Suspension is not a final measure but
a temporary one, leaving channels of communication open," the Council of
Europe emphasised in the statement. Article 8 of the Council of Europe's
statute allows the suspension of a member's representation rights and — in a
later step — even exclusion from the body.
Russia, a Council of Europe
member since 1996, has already in the past been the target of such sanctions —
after its annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014. Then,
the Russian delegation in the PACE was deprived of voting rights. Russia
responded by boycotting the sessions of the assembly and suspending the payment
of contribution to the council's budget. The dispute was resolved and Russia's
rights restored in 2019 in a deal championed by French President Emmanuel
Macron — then seeking to rekindle relations with Russia — but which infuriated
Kyiv.
Council of Europe Secretary
General Marija Pejcinovic Buric described the attack on Ukraine as a "flagrant
violation" of the statute of the Council of Europe and the ECHR which the
body oversees. "This is a dark hour for Europe and everything it stands
for," she said
^The more we isolate Russia and
Putin from the world the better for everyone. ^
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