Russian delegation will not participate in PA OSCE session in Helsinki - State Duma speaker

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The Russian delegation will not participate in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (PA OSCE) due to take place in Helsinki on July 5-9, Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryskin said on Wednesday. Finland’s Foreign Ministry earlier announced that it will deny entry to Naryshkin and other parliamentarians included in the sanctions list. "It became known yesterday in the evening that under the pressure from Washington and Brussels, the Finnish authorities deny five members of the Russian delegation the legal right to participate in the PA OSCE session," Naryshkin said, commenting on Finland’s decision to deny him entry to participate in PA OSCE session. "My colleagues agreed with me that it is impressible to lower the level of representation of the Russian delegation at the session, especially such an important session, devoted to the 40th anniversary of signing the Helsinki Final Act - a fundamental document," he noted. "The Russian delegation in full will not participate in the session," he said. "This is the expression of our protest against arbitrariness, against violation of principles of democracy and parliamentarism," Naryshkin noted. Finland’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vesa Hakkinen told TASS earlier on Wednesday that Finland will entry to Naryshkin to participate in July’s PA OSCE session. Such decision was made because Naryshkin is included in EU’s sanctions list, Hakkinen said. The Finnish Foreign Ministry held consultations until the very last moment about the possibility to allow them entry to the country as an exception. "I can confirm that Naryshkin is among those who will be denied entry," Hakkinen said. "I cannot disclose other names now, but the information about people on EU’s sanctions list is open," he added. "We consulted with other EU member countries, EU’s and OSCE’s leaders before making a final decision," Hakkinen noted. Two draft resolutions that will be put forward for PA’s consideration were proposed by Russia. Head of Russia’s delegation to PA OSCE, State Duma deputy Nikolay Kovales said that the first draft resolution, authored by Naryshkin, focuses on "inadmissibility of imposing sanctions against parliamentarians from OSCE member countries," and the second, authored by Kovalev himself - on "importance of developing and implementing joint measures by OSCE member countries on preventing manifestations of Neo-Nazism." Russian officials and companies came under the first batch of Western sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia incorporated Crimea in mid-March 2014 after the February 2014 coup in Ukraine. Read more