Russia has received backing from the Council of Europe"s assembly to have its voting rights restored with 96 in favor and 44 against. This move was followed by harsh debates, with the representatives of Georgia and Ukraine protesting against it.

96 delegates voted in favor of the draft declaration with 44 votes against and seven refrained from voting altogether.
Since 2014 with the initiation of the annexation of Crimea, Russia had lost its right to vote in Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Seven months ago, when the Russian delegations was about to regain their voting right, the representatives of Eastern European nations, comprising of Georgian, Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Slovak delegates left the Assembly in order to protest the decision.
Although Russia was given a massive fine of 75 million Euros to redeem their voting right, they have managed to pay it, which damages the reputation of PACE altogether. For some, it already represents a money-driven bureaucratic machine, which has lost its core values.
These nations which opposed Russia’s reentrance to the Council in June were the ones who harshly protested it today. Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are all among the nations which objected to Russia’s return as a full-fledged member of the Council.
The Georgian representative said that “we, together with our allies, continue to create obstacles for Russia at PACE”.