PACE’s ‘Russian democrats’ platform draws strong reservations from Ukraine – Honcharenko

The Ukrainian delegation to PACE did not vote for a resolution that envisages the creation of a separate platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces in the Assembly, as it has significant reservations regarding the format of this structure and its potential participants.

This was stated to a Ukrinform correspondent on the sidelines of the autumn session in Strasbourg by PACE Bureau member and Ukrainian MP Oleksii Honcharenko.

"We managed to secure several important things through amendments. First of all, to add that at least 30% of the members of this platform must be representatives of Russia’s indigenous peoples: Chechens, Circassians, Tatars, Kalmyks, and so on. From our point of view, this is important. Secondly, we explicitly wrote in the possibility of creating a separate platform for indigenous peoples. This is now enshrined, although no deadlines are specified," Honcharenko said.

According to him, another key Ukrainian amendment introduced restrictions for Russian opposition figures regarding their previous work.

"Those who, after 2014, worked in the Russian government or in occupation administrations, or who received money from the Russian state, will not be allowed to take part in the platform. This matters because today in Europe there may be Russians who present themselves as democrats but who in the past were, for example, ministers or deputies that voted for the annexation of Crimea," Honcharenko stressed.

He added that participants of the platform will be able to speak and take part in all Assembly events. However, it is impossible to verify whether any of them are in fact agents of the Russian special services.

"We already saw this story with Belarus. In PACE, we created a platform for them, and the speaker of the opposition’s Coordination Council, Anzhelika Melnіkova, even addressed the Assembly. And then she disappeared, because it turned out she had likely been recruited by the KGB. She fled in an unknown direction, later she was found back in Belarus. On top of that, the Coordination Council’s funds had disappeared. She turned out to be a kind of plant. So, when this new platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces is created, who knows how many FSB agents might be there," the MP warned.

As reported, PACE recently adopted a resolution to launch two separate platforms: one for cooperation with Russian democratic forces, and another for cooperation with peoples colonized by the Russian Federation.