MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Russia will insist at the extraordinary debates on Ukraine at the upcoming session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) that European policymakers' interference in the situation in Ukraine is unacceptable, says Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Russian delegation to PACE.
"We will speak categorically against interference of representatives of European countries in the political process in Ukraine," Pushkov told journalists on Wednesday.
The upcoming PACE session will address the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine during debates on a report to be presented by the Monitoring Committee, he said.
Pushkov suggested that he could not imagine that, for instance, during demonstrations against same-sex marriages in France, officials from other countries opposing such marriages could pour into France to join the protests.
"What kind of treatment is that of Eastern European countries as if they were semi-colonies, where anyone can arrive, impose their agenda, and incite a struggle against the legitimate government? I consider this to be political racism," Pushkov said in commenting on the situation in Ukraine.
The way some European policymakers have behaved in Ukraine during the ongoing political crisis has shown that "there is not a shade of democracy here."
"The matter is about geopolitical struggle with no holds barred, and we will indicate this as well," he said.
The members of the Russian delegation will also warn against portraying the protest movement unfolding in Ukraine as purely democratic, he said.
The protest has entered a violent phase, and Ukraine is seeing mass violations of standards and laws common for EU countries, such as the setting of cars on fire and seizures of administrative buildings, he said.
"During the debates on Ukraine, we intend to point out that a country's democratic development is ensured not by actions of a radical minority but through a stable and orderly political process," Pushkov said. He suggested that the people protesting in Kyiv represent a minority in Ukrainian society.
"Therefore, this movement cannot be described as strictly democratic. A very serious radical element has appeared in this movement, which is discrediting it," Pushkov said.
The measures the Ukrainian government is taking now are quite restrained, as no state of emergency has been declared and no troops have been engaged, he said.