Ukraine is unhappy with the new procedure of imposing sanctions by the Council of Europe

The Ukrainian authorities are extremely disappointed by the decision of the Committee of the Council of Europe to introduce a complimentary procedure for responding to violations of obligations by members of this international organization. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine issued a statement. Ukraine strongly and consistently opposes the introduction of procedures that directly or indirectly destroy the mechanisms of imposition of restrictive measures, including sanctions, said in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. We remind that in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to change the procedure of imposing sanctions on a country that violates the PACE charter. The change is that sanctions are now imposed only in the case of the most serious violations of the basic principles and values enshrined in the Charter of the Council of Europe. The sanctions procedure can be initiated only if it is supported by at least one third of all PACE participants. In other words, countries such as Ukraine or Georgia will not be able to initiate the process of imposing sanctions against Russia on their own initiative, which is what they are doing in PACE. In Kiev, of course, they are unhappy. Ukraine strongly and consistently opposes the introduction of procedures that directly or indirectly destroy the mechanisms of imposition of restrictive measures, including sanctions, said in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.