Written declaration No. 621 | Doc. 14223 | 20 December 2016

Credentials of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly

Signatories: Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Iwona ARENT, Poland, EC ; Ms Mónika BARTOS, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Marieluise BECK, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Włodzimierz BERNACKI, Poland, EC ; Lord David BLENCATHRA, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Margareta BUDNER, Poland, EC ; Ms Lütfiye İlksen CERİTOĞLU KURT, Turkey, EC ; Sir Jeffrey DONALDSON, United Kingdom, EC ; Baroness Margaret EATON, United Kingdom, EC ; Lady Diana ECCLES, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom, EC ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Iryna GERASHCHENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Tina GHASEMI, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Ms Rózsa HOFFMANN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Ihor HUZ, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Mariia IONOVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Grzegorz JANIK, Poland, EC ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhii KIRAL, Ukraine, EC ; Ms Nellija KLEINBERGA, Latvia, ALDE ; Ms Manana KOBAKHIDZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Talip KÜÇÜKCAN, Turkey, EC ; Mr Zviad KVATCHANTIRADZE, Georgia, EC ; Mr Serhiy LABAZIUK, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Georgii LOGVYNSKYI, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrii LOPUSHANSKYI, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Andriy LOZOVOY, Ukraine, NR ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Jenő MANNINGER, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Huw MERRIMAN, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Daniel MILEWSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Rónán MULLEN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Zsolt NÉMETH, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', EPP/CD ; Mr Jarosław OBREMSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Suat ÖNAL, Turkey, EC ; Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Martin POLIAČIK, Slovak Republic, EC ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Rovshan RZAYEV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Paul SCULLY, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Dominik TARCZYŃSKI, Poland, EC ; Ms Leyla Şahin USTA, Turkey, EC ; Mr Burhanettin UYSAL, Turkey, EC ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Viktor VOVK, Ukraine, EC ; Mr Sinuhe WALLINHEIMO, Finland, EPP/CD ; Ms Serap YAŞAR, Turkey, EC ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Svitlana ZALISCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

In 2014-2015, following the illegal annexation of Crimea and military aggression in Donbas, the Parliamentary Assembly suspended certain rights of the Russian delegation and put forward a clearly defined list of demands under which this decision could be reviewed.

According to Resolutions 1990 (2014), 2034 (2015) and 2063 (2015) it urged the Russian authorities, inter alia, to:

• reverse the illegal annexation of Crimea;
• refrain from harassing Crimean Tatars;
• fully implement the Minsk Agreements;
• withdraw all its troops from Ukrainian territory;
• give its full co-operation to the investigation into the downing of MH17;
• ensure permanent Ukrainian/Russian control of their joint State border;
• release all hostages, prisoners of war and illegally held persons.

Russia failed to comply with every single provision of the above-mentioned resolutions. Furthermore, in violation of the international law, elections to the Russian parliament were illegally organised in occupied Crimea.

We strongly believe that the Assembly position in relation with the Russian delegation should be consistent and based on the aforementioned resolutions. Otherwise, the Assembly will effectively recognise its failure to ensure its authority in Europe and beyond.