Russia will reduce contributions to the Council of Europe due to the fact that representatives of our country do not participate in the meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). Pay contributions to the body where the Russian Federation does not have the opportunity to represent its interests, in Moscow it is considered inexpedient.

"A single amount is paid to the Council of Europe, which is then distributed to various bodies of the association. We will calculate how much the PACE accounts for, and we will cut our payments so much, "Russian diplomats told journalists..

According to Izvestia, the same position is held in the permanent representation of Russia under the Council of Europe. "In connection with the long non-participation of the Russian parliamentary delegation in the PACE, it is natural to put on the agenda the question of the size of the Russian contribution to the budget of the assembly," said the staff of the Permanent Mission.

The head of the Duma committee on international affairs, Leonid Slutsky, who represented Russia in the PACE, stresses that if Moscow does not return to work in this structure in the near future, reducing contributions is a necessary measure: "If we do not return to work, no".

According to experts, annual allocations to the European body amount to a rather impressive amount - about $ 118 million. This money is where to spend and within the country, especially taking into account the sanctions pressure of the Council of Europe on Russia.

The last time the Russian delegation attended PACE meetings in March this year. It consisted of 36 deputies. Since the structure has a great influence on the processes taking place on the continent, participation in its work had a meaning for Russia. The initiative to stop relations did not come from our side.

After the reunification of the Crimea with Russia in 2014. The Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Moscow's actions, which it described as an "annexation". At the beginning of January 2015. PACE deprived Russia of the right to vote. In response, the RF suspended its activities in the structure of.

The question of reducing payments to the PACE is going to be considered more than three years after this structure began to pursue an anti-Russian policy for Russian money. Perhaps in Moscow until recently, they hoped that the parliamentary restrictions would be lifted. But this did not happen. Now it is worth waiting for the PACE reaction, when the financial flow for the maintenance of the organization, coming from Russia, will run out. A representative of the Council of Europe in the Russian Federation, Tatyana Baeva, said that Strasbourg has not yet received notifications of Moscow's intention to reduce the appropriations.

Meanwhile, our country has not ceased to be active in other parts of the Council of Europe.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, for the time that has passed since the suspension of the work of the Russian delegation to the PACE, Moscow has signed the Council of Europe conventions against the manipulation of sports competitions, against trafficking in human organs, the abolition of legalization of documents drawn up by diplomatic agents or consular officials, about a unified approach to security, protection And maintenance during sports events, in particular football matches.