STRASBOURG, France -- Ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has been refused entry to several European countries this year, will be a member of Russia's delegation to the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly.


The Strasbourg-based assembly said Tuesday he would be one of 11 deputies from the lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, and seven members of the Federation Council, or upper house, in a single Russian delegation.


A Council of Europe spokesman said Zhirinovsky's credentials had been ratified and France was bound to grant him a visa automatically under its host nation agreement with the Council.


"Parliaments are free to designate their delegations," the spokesman said. "It is none of our business."


The assembly, the parliamentary arm of the 32-nation Council, which promotes democracy, human rights and cooperation throughout Europe, meets four times a year. The Russian parliament has special guest status. The next session is set for April 11-15.


French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in January that Paris would not allow a visit by the extreme rightist.


A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said any request for a visa for Zhirinovsky to attend the Strasbourg assembly "will be examined in the framework of the host agreement which France has concluded with the Council of Europe."


Since December, Zhirinovsky, whose Liberal Democratic Party won one-seventh of the seats in the Duma at last year's elections, has been thrown out of or refused visas to a series of European countries including Bulgaria, Germany and Spain.