ATHENS, April 11, /ITAR-TASS/. The Greek Communist Party has slammed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s decision to strip Russia of the voting rights till the end of the year for its position on Crimea.

“PACE’s decision in retaliation for Russia’s position on Crimea is a monument to hypocrisy,” the Greek Communist Party’s Central Committee said in a news release. “The Council of Europe and the countries that hold key positions in it not only supported but also played the central roles in the imperialist invasion of Yugoslavia and also in other such interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.”

“This hypocritical decision against Russia will fail to resolve the acute problems that have emerged in the region following the EU and US interference in Ukraine. On the contrary, it will pour oil on the fire,” the Greek Communist party said.

The PACE on Thursday adopted a resolution in response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia supporting the report presented by the chief of the PACE monitoring commission Stefan Schennach and the introduction of so-called mild sanctions suspending the Russian delegation’s right to vote at PACE sessions till the end of the year.