The delegation of the Russian Federation walked out at the session of the OSCE PA

The head of the Russian delegation to the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy said that parliamentarians of the Russian Federation left the assembly session because of a gross violation of regulations. “The Russian delegation believes that the absence of some members who were authors of the resolutions against our country have not been duly documented, as provided by the regulations. Mr. Tsereteli [Georgian representative] told us in ironic tone that one can inform him about the absence of members with a carrier pigeon, with the help of messengers and so on. We do not think so, this is a gross violation of regulations, and it calls into question the meaning and number of legitimate signatures to the resolution. The Russian delegation will not allow to insult itself and the Russian Federation with such pseudo-regulatory tricks that Mr. Tsereteli admits”, Tolstoy told journalists on Wednesday. Tolstoy added that the delegation of the Russian Federation declared a violation of the regulation while considering two anti-Russian resolutions at the OSCE PA session in Berlin and demanded to postpone the voting on these documents. “The Russian delegation is against considering of this resolution and the other one, concerning the Russian Crimea and the Russian city of Sevastopol. We believe that the rules of our Assembly have been violated in this case” Tolstoy said. “Absence of the members who signed these resolutions and brought evidence-free accusations against my country is a violation of the regulations of our Assembly”, he stressed. “I don't think that any of you will agree that we should all be present here, and there are some members who have Mr. Tsereteli's phone number and who can call and tell him about their missing at this or that session”, Tolstoy continued. He recalled that “there is a regulation saying that in case of his absence an Assembly member should duly inform the Chairman”. “Not by cell phone, but in writing”, emphasized the head of the Russian delegation. “In this regard, the Russian delegation categorically objects to the inclusion in the final declaration [the signatures] of Mrs. [Swedish deputy Margaret] Soderfelt and Mr. [the head of the Ukrainian delegation Arthur] Gerasimov, who do not attend today's session”, he concluded.   Acting President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Statement For his part Acting President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly George Tsereteli argues that all signatures to the resolution “remain valid”. “Even if we did not receive a written refusal to come here, nevertheless there is an opportunity to send a whole series of different messages. Maybe I should request the Ukrainian delegation to clarify this situation, but I think we can discuss this for at least an hour”, he said. Tseretelli pointed out that in accordance with the regulations, “if the member of a delegation has registered but cannot attend the annual session because of insuperable obligations, his or her signature will remain in effect provided that the chairman of the PA was properly notified by the head of the delegation”. “The meaning of the “properly” is not clarified here: maybe a carrier pigeon will bring this letter, sorry for the joke, one may notify in a written form, by messenger, by e-mail”, he added. “I believe that our experts consider that the information was brought to the notice in a proper way. If we will keep clarifying the meaning of the “properly” this will take us nowhere”, Tsereteli concluded. Source: TASS