Esquerra Senator Laura Castel—the only pro-independence member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe—receives signatures from the entire Ukrainian delegation

Esquerra Republicana’s senator Laura Castel—the only pro-independence member of the PACE—has motioned for a written statement in support of Vladimir Putin’s Russian opponents fighting for peace. The initiative found the backing of a total of 40 PACE members, including the entire Ukrainian delegation that was able to attend the Assembly last week.

The statement, motioned by Ms Castel and seconded by the representative of the Die Linke PACE group Andrej Hunko, was introduced last week in Strasbourg during an extraordinary session of the PACE convened to discuss and propose Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe and all of its organs. The document remained open to signature by other members.

“Up to 14,000 people have so far been detained by the Putin government’s security forces since the invasion began,” Ms Castel indicated, as was stated in the draft. Esquerra’s senator called on all member states to “show unanimous support” for the Russian opposition pro-democracy movements, since their role is crucial as the situation develops. “Support for human rights defenders, democratic forces and independent media in Russia is crucial,” said Ms Castel.

The result of the extraordinary assembly on the Russian aggression on Ukraine was unanimous: it was decided that Russia should cease to be a member of the Council of Europe and all its constituent bodies. The final decision was taken by the Committee of Ministers on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.