Russia Spurns PACE Chairmanship
// Mikhail Mareglov is a victim of the war
The discussion of the consequences of the Russia-Georgian war has begun in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). The European parliamentarians laid the blame for what happened on both sides, and representatives of Russia accused Europe and the United States of arming Georgia. Mikhail Margelov, head of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs and once one of the most active members of the Russian delegation, was absent from the session. His colleagues there told Kommersant that he will leave the assembly in the near future. That means that Russia will again lose the chance for its person to be chairman of the PACE. Margelov was the main contender to be the next leader of the organization.
The delegates began to discuss the war between Russia and Georgia first thing in the morning, but only 26 members were able to speak. Most of them criticized both Russia and Georgia with extreme severity. “There is a concept in criminal law of premeditated crime,” said Swede Goran Lindblad. “This war was a premeditated crime. We know, for example, that the Russian 58th Army was ready for the war in advance. The premeditation on Russia’s side is obvious. On Georgia’s side too. The only difference is that Georgia acted on its own territory and Russia invaded another. Both are completely unacceptable.” Eight of the 26 Russian representatives present spoke, and they created a different impression of the events. “When Russian peacekeepers, the elderly, women and children are being fired on by multiple-launch rocket systems, are we supposed to use slingshots?” asked deputy chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky. Head of the Russian delegation Konstantin Kosachev recalled that the previous day was the 70th anniversary of the “Munich Agreement,” hinting that Saakashvili is Hitler today. Alexey Ostrovsky, chairman of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, told the assembly that “that immoderate aggressor, the United States, is an advocate of Georgia.” Svetlana Goryacheva exposed Georgia’s “generous overseas sponsors,” the U.S., Israel and the NATO countries. Gennady Zyuganov castigated Europe because it “watched calmly as the NATO steamroller rolled toward Russia.” Valery Sudarenkov accused the European parliamentarians of agreeing to finance the Georgian army. The PACE MPs, most of whom represent NATO countries, listened attentively.
Margelov, the deputy head of the PACE delegation, was sorely missed by the Russian speakers. He was in Strasbourg at the beginning of the week, then he returned to Russia for the “St. Petersburg Dialog” forum. Margelov’s colleagues at PACE told Kommersant that his absence at the important discussion of the war was not by chance. Baroness Knight of Collingtree, the honorary of the European democrats’ faction in the PACE, said that Margelov would soon quit as leader of the faction. She said that a new leader of the faction would be elected next January, and Margelov would not be nominated. According to the baroness, Margelov was quitting because of a promotion he received in Russia. She was unable to say what that new position is, however.
The election of a new leader of the faction will be an important event for the PACE. Under the rotation system approved in January, the next chairman of the PACE, at the beginning of 2010, will be the European democrats’ leader. If Margelov had retained his post in the PACE, he would have automatically become the leader of the PACE in a year. Now his deputy in the faction, British Conservative David Wilshire, known for his friendly attitude toward the Russian delegation, will become the assembly’s leader. At the same time, Hungarian member Matyas Eorsi, head of the liberal democratic faction in the PACE, told Kommersant that Margelov has little chance of being reelected as leader of his faction. According to Eorsi, Margelov, instead of explaining to the Russian public why 24 PACE members proposed to deprive the Russian delegation of its vote, chose to deceive it by saying that the initiative was evidence of the anti-Russian nature of the PACE. “He is a member of the PACE presidential committee. He knew very well that the proposal was to freeze temporarily the authority of the Russian and the Georgian delegations. But he preferred to start a scandal and make us into Russophobes. I think his reputation in the PACE has suffered,” Eorsi said.
Margelov told Kommersant that his departure from the PACE is only a rumor and he will continue to work in the assembly. He declined to make any other comments. Sources in the Russian PCE delegation confirm that they have long known about Margelov’s departure. One of them said that his break with the PACE does not mean that he will leave the Federation Council. “He’s simply tired of Strasbourg,” the source said. “He was highly offended that he was not elected chairman of the PACE in January, even though, under the procedure in place at that time, the office was guaranteed to him.” The assembly changed the rules of rotation in January, and the chairman became the leader of the socialist faction Lluis Maria de Puig. The source added that Russia’s influence in the assembly would probably be diminished by Margelov’s departure, since was a big success for the Russian delegation to have a representative on the presidential council. It won’t happen again soon.”
Another member of the Russian delegation confirmed that Margelov was leaving the PACE and told Kommersant that it is too soon to talk about a new post for him. There are rumors that he will take a senior position in the Russian Foreign Ministry, but Kommersant’s source called that unlikely.
Discussions of Russia continue today in the PACE and there will be a vote on depriving the Russian delegation of its vote. In his report on that subject, Swiss Andreas Gross, with whom the Kommersant correspondent was able to make contact, will recommend confirming the rights of the Russian delegation. Eorsi, a reporter for Georgia, told Kommersant that he intends to recommend that the assembly put off the issue until January. “At this stage, it is necessary to stop the looting and ethnic cleansing in Georgia and make Russia understand that we do not agree with its policy,” Eorsi said. “The Russian delegates talk about some new world order, but what they call a new world order is the really same old Soviet world order. And that is unacceptable.”
Mikhail Zygar, Strasbourg
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 01, 2008
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