Russia paid a contribution to PACE in the amount of 33 million euros

Russia contributed about 33 million euros to the budget of the Council of Europe. This is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the press secretary of the Council Secretary General Daniel Holtgen.

“The fact that Russia paid the contribution is in line with what the Russian government, in particular, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, promised to do earlier. That is, he always stated that as soon as Russia has fully restored all its rights [in PACE], the contribution will be paid by it,” he said .

Earlier, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) confirmed the powers of the Russian delegation in full. Immediately after the adoption of the resolution, the Ukrainian delegation left PACE. Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko approached the microphone with the words: "We are leaving."

In 2014, the Russian delegation, due to the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the conflict in Ukraine, lost the right to vote in PACE. The following year, the assembly twice considered the issue of restoring the powers of the Russian delegation, but the sanctions only became tougher.

In 2016 and 2018, Russia did not send an application for confirmation of its powers, and also froze payments to the budget of the Council of Europe.