§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take steps to ensure that the Russian Federation is invited by the Committee of Ministers to become a member of the Council of Europe only if, in accordance with the Parliamentary Assembly's Opinion No. 193 (1996), the means and capabilities of the assembly and of the human rights institutions are increased to meet the consequences of Russia's membership.
§ Lord Chesham:We accept that Russian membership will have consequences for the workload of these bodies, and the Council of Europe in general. But we cannot ignore the financial constraints which are currently being placed on public sector expenditure in a number of Member States. We therefore cannot give the guarantees requested, although we shall closely monitor the needs of Council of Europe institutions in the light of Russian membership.