On January 29, 2020 PACE confirmed the credentials of the Russian delegation, which paid all debts on membership dues. Representatives of the Russian Federation, thinking that they bought the loyalty of European politicians, and decisions will be made according to their scenario, received the exact opposite result. The very day after the renewal of the rights of the Russian delegation, a resolution was adopted at PACE that explicitly points to a number of violations by Russia, the recognition of the Russian Federation as a party to the Minsk agreements and a side of the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine. In turn, representatives of the Russian delegation and the Russian media have accused PACE of a "boorish approach", because the Russian Federation has made all the necessary membership fees and paid off old debts to the organization.
It is a well-known fact that boycotting, leaving the conference room and direct rude blackmail are used by Russia in the best traditions of Soviet practice. Not only did the Russian delegation legally remain in the conference room and, as a matter of fact, took part in the discussion and voting of this resolution, the blackmail that the Russian delegation tried to use to obtain voting benefits, failed and served as a slap in the face of the Russian delegation.
The resolution adopted by PACE explicitly obliges the Russian Federation to implement fully and impeccably the Minsk agreements, put an end to military intervention and stop supporting any form of illegal armed groups in eastern Ukraine. PACE legally obliged Russia to stop the annexation of Crimea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Once again, a legal document was adopted at a large international site, which shows that the Russian Federation is an aggressor country. Among other things, Russia was obliged to cooperate with the United Investigative Group and the Netherlands Prosecutor's Office with the demand to bring to justice those involved in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Russia was obliged to take a number of specific measures aimed at solving problems related to the continuation of violations of human rights and the rule of law, both in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea and throughout the Russian Federation. Also, Russia was asked to stop obstructing the implementation of the decisions of the ESPL and take the necessary measures to eliminate violations of LGBT rights.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maria Peychinovich-Burich, in her speech before PACE touched on the priority of international law over national law and mentioned in her speech the constitutional reform of the Russian Federation, which is going to put national law higher than international law in order to evade responsibility for numerous violations.
According to reports and investigations of the non-governmental international organization Human Right Watch for 2019 and 2020, the Russian authorities continue to mock Crimean Tatars in annexed Crimea, persecuting people on fabricated cases. According to reports of Amnesty International human rights are constantly violated, both on the territory of Russia itself and in the temporarily occupied Crimea. In December 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the protection of rights in occupied Crimea. Russia has not complied with any PACE resolution that explicitly indicated the elimination of human rights violations in annexed Crimea.
