In an information note declassified today by the Monitoring Committee, the former co-rapporteurs for Russia, Axel Schäfer (Germany, SOC) and Ria Oomen-Ruijten (Netherlands, EPP/CD), take stock of the parliamentary monitoring procedure in respect of Russia since its accession in 1996, “with a view to identifying possible weaknesses and drawing lessons for the future”.
“This note is not meant to assess the state of fulfilment of Russia`s obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe, nor to identify the outstanding concerns with regard to democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Russia over the whole reporting period,” the former co-rapporteurs stressed, drawing attention to all relevant Assembly’s reports.
Mr Schäfer and Ms Oomen-Ruijten believe that the Monitoring Committee should continue to pay attention to developments and policies of Russia which directly affect the functioning of democratic institutions in the countries that are subject to the different forms of monitoring, in particular through its Sub-Committee on Conflicts.
***
Read also
Following an opinion of the Assembly, the Committee of Ministers adopted, on 16 and 23 March 2022, Resolutions CM/Res(2022)2 and CM/Res(2022)3 which terminated the Russia’s membership in accordance with Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe. With the expulsion of Russia, the parliamentary monitoring procedure, which is strictly reserved for member States, has been terminated.