Finland Hopes To Resolve Crisis Over Russian PACE Participation By May - Foreign Minister

Finalnd is hoping to find a compromise solution for Russia to resume work within the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) fully by May, when Helsinki's presidency of the organization ends, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini told Sputnik on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos

DAVOS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) Finalnd is hoping to find a compromise solution for Russia to resume work within the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) fully by May, when Helsinki's presidency of the organization ends, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini told Sputnik on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"We have been working now as a president to try to solve the issue that all the member states can participate. But at the same time, we know this and emphasized what was the reason why we are in this situation - it was the illegal annexation of Crimea. We have been starting now the dialogue between Council of Ministers and PACE, which represents all parliamentarians. Let`s find out what the outcome may be. We hope to find some kind of a compromise [by the end of Finnish presidency]," Soini said.

According to Soini, he is also hoping for a compromise solution on Russia's debt of 60 million Euros, or roughly $68 million, which had accrued since Russia stopped its payments to the organization over the discrimination of the Russian delegation.

Relations between Russia and the Council of Europe, particularly its parliamentary arm, worsened after PACE deprived the Russian delegation of the right to vote in the wake of Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014, which was not recognized by Western states. Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the reunification took part via a referendum.

Since 2016, the Russian delegation in PACE has not been renewing its credentials ahead of the assembly's sessions in protest of the discrimination. Tensions escalated further when Moscow announced that it had canceled part of its annual payment to the Council of Europe for 2017, demanding that the Russian delegation's rights be restored.