Disinfo: PACE resolutions have no power

Summary

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is an outdated and toothless organisation, which doesn’t do anything clever. It is a club of people who like to talk about everything. Resolutions are simply not needed because they have no power.

Disproof

Among other instruments of influence, PACE has the right to demand action from 47 European governments, who must jointly reply, question Presidents and Prime Ministers on any topic it chooses, sanction a member State by recommending its exclusion or suspension, etc.

"Though it has no power to pass binding laws, PACE holds a constant dialogue with governments, national parliaments, other international organisations and civil society which "sets the agenda", says the official website.

Among the Assembly's most important achievements are ending the death penalty in Europe by making it an accession condition, inspiring a host of national laws by pressing for new convention, creating a forum for debating controversial social or political issues. For example, according to one of the resolutions, Russian deputies were deprived of the right to vote in PACE, as well as the right to be represented in its governing bodies, because of Crimea annexation, military aggression in Donbas, etc.

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radiovesti.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 135
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 31/01/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: Council of Europe, Europe
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The Aachen agreement between Germany and France creates a high-speed Europe relying on French nuclear weapons and German industry. Eastern Europe will be hopelessly outside this Brave New World, created by the rich Europeans.

Jan 30, 2019
Disproof

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, stated at a speech on the occasion of the signing of the Aachen agreement, that the agreement is strengthening European integration According to the Financial Times, rather than an inevitable march towards a Franco-German superstate, diplomats say the treaty is like its predecessors: a way to avoid outright economic and diplomatic competition between the EU’s strongest continental powers and keep some focus on shared projects.

Disinfo: EU grants and loans to Georgia are for resettling migrants rather than infrastructure development

The money which Georgia loaned from Germany after Chancellor Merkel’s visit on the 22nd August 2018 is likely not to be intended for infrastructure projects, as the two sides declared, but rather for the resettlement of migrants in Georgia. The EUR 3.4 billion, which the EU recently allocated to Georgia, will probably also be spent on creating good living conditions for migrants in Georgia.

Jan 30, 2019
Disproof

The EU, and Germany in particular, demanding resettlement of migrants to Georgia is a recurring pro-Russian narrative (see earlier EU vs Disinfo cases here and here and Mythdector reports here and here). The only migrants German Chancellor Merkel discussed during her visit to Tbilisi were Georgians seeking asylum in Germany. The development cooperation deals totalling more than EUR 193 million included drinking water, waste water, and natural gas storage facility projects (see earlier EU vs Disinfo cases here and here and a Deutsche Welle report on the visit here). As for the recently allocated EUR 3.4 billion, it was committed under the Indicative Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Investment Action Plan, designed by the EU in cooperation with the World Bank and six Eastern Partnership (EaP) member states in line with the EaP initiative’s goal of delivering tangible results for citizens across the region. The Action Plan has nothing to do with migration-related issues and seeks to bolster economic growth in the EaP region by enhancing transport infrastructure.

Disinfo: Britan is under the thumb of the United States

Bank of England refused to give Nicolas Maduro 1,1 billion in gold and thus Britain and its central bank have shown themselves to be under the thumb of the United States.

Jan 30, 2019
Disproof

Recurring disinfo narrative about the US orchestrating different international events. For example, according to pro-Kremlin media, the thumb of the US is so large that it covers German foreign policy, German media, European Parliament and Russia's accordance with the INF Treaty. According to Sir Alan Duncan, minister of the Americas, the refusal to give gold to Maduro was a decision for the Bank to make: "The Bank of England holds a significant amount of Venezuela's gold. This is a decision for the Bank of England, not the government," he said. "No doubt they will take into account when they do the fact that a large number of countries across the world are now questioning the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro and recognising that of Juan Guaido."