Russia withdraws from PACE session in Georgia

First Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Mikheil Machavariani will open Thursday Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Session which will focus on juridical and human right issues. The PACE session will take place in Georgian capital Tbilisi and will last two days.

Among highlights of the agenda are issues related to the juristic sphere of the country, RIA Novosti reported.

“Georgian side informed the Russian delegation that a PACE Juristic Commission official, Russian lawmaker Sergey Markov will not receive a visa to Georgia as he had traveled to Abkhazia and South Osetia without any permission of the Georgian authorities,” told ITAR-TASS Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko. The measure comes in line with Georgia’s law on occupied territories.

“In a bid to avoid new provocations against Russian officials in Georgia, all the Russian parliamentarians had to withdraw from the session,” Nesterenko added.