PACE MOVE TO DENY RUSSIA VOTE CAUSES SURPRISE IN MOSCOW

RIA Novosti
15:5509/07/2009
MOSCOW

Moscow is confused over an initiative by some PACE members to try and
deny Russia the right to vote during assembly sessions, a spokesman
for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The comments by Russia followed an attempt in late June by Georgia’s
delegation to get members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) to sign a petition, depriving Russia of its vote at
the assembly.

"We have been surprised recently by the ease in which PACE
parliamentarians are ready to look at depriving delegations of their
voting rights, first Armenia, then Ukraine, or Russia. You must agree
that this is not a serious route," Andrei Nesterenko said.

The high-ranking Russian diplomat said "excluding a side from dialogue
because of a difference of opinion on an issue does not strengthen
mutual understanding."

Georgia has been repeatedly seeking to deprive Russia of its PACE
vote since last August, when both countries were involved in a brief
war over former Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
which Russia recognized as independent.

Russia launched its five-day military operation to "force Georgia to
accept peace" after Georgian troops attacked South Ossetia on August 8,
killing a number of Russian peacekeepers and hundreds of civilians.