Mezentseva announces possible changes in composition of Verkhovna Rada delegation to PACE

She said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

“There may be changes in the membership of our delegation. They are currently being discussed, but this will happen only with the consent of parliamentary groups and factions and the MPs themselves. We have a united delegation, there are no quarrels or disagreements, but we still want everyone who is a member of the delegation to be able to travel and work actively. Our delegation consists of 24 MPs. If a person cannot work to the fullest or has other duties as an MP in international activities, it is important that this is harmoniously combined,” Mezentseva said.

At the same time, she did not specify who exactly she was talking about.

“We need to confirm the composition of the delegation by January 11 and submit the documents to Strasbourg,” Mezentseva said.

She also emphasized the challenges related to financing the work of the Verkhovna Rada's permanent delegation to PACE.

“I will say it openly and I want it to be noted - over the past three years of our diplomacy in PACE, we have been funded by the Council of Europe. The funding comes from the membership fees of the Council of Europe member states, not from the state budget of Ukraine. The only exception is one MP who enjoys this right [to receive funding from the state for work related to participation in PACE] The work of our other 23 delegates to PACE is not funded from the state budget. This was my principled position as head of the delegation. We are the only delegation that has saved many millions of hryvnias for the state budget, which, among other things, were used for the Defense Forces and other important social and military spheres,” the MP noted.

She added: “The delegation is often criticized: you are supposed to have traveled at public expense. Well, not for public funds. We have been supported by the Council of Europe for three years, and we thank Germany, whose contributions were the largest.”

As Ukrinform previously reported, members of the Verkhovna Rada's permanent delegation to PACE hold important positions in the assembly. Olena Khomenko is the Vice-President of PACE and chairs the Special Committee on the Status of Children of Ukraine. Yevheniia Kravchuk is the Chair of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, Maria Mezentseva is the Chair of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, and Oleksii Honcharenko is the Vice President of the Committee on Migration and Refugees.

The PACE winter session will take place from January 27 to 31 in Strasbourg.