The Federation Council Speaker met with the chairs of the international affairs committees from the parliaments of the BRICS countries.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko met with chairs of the international affairs committees from the parliaments (chambers of parliaments) of the BRICS countries, namely, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, UAE, and Ethiopia.
According to her, this communication format provides an opportunity to hold substantive discussions of the parliamentary interaction issues within the association which is chaired by Russia this year. The Speaker noted that the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum will be held in St Petersburg in July under the motto The Role of Parliaments in Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security.
Valentina Matvienko has also called on the parliamentarians to make their contribution to making preparations for the main event of the Russian chairmanship which is the BRICS summit to be held in Kazan in October. “The summit’s decisions should rely on a solid legislative foundation.”
The Speaker noted that the expansion of BRICS was the best demonstration of the association’s growing authority in the international arena and its broad opportunities to influence global decision-making. “Dozens more countries are allies of the association, which is increasingly becoming a mouthpiece for the interests of the Global Majority,” she said, adding that over the past 15 years BRICS has become an example of successful cooperation between the countries and developed a solid tradition of an equal dialogue, in which mutual respect and mandatory consideration of each other’s interests play a key role. According to her, the association has no place for any country dominating other countries, one country imposing its own will on others, or countries forming alliances in order to oppose other countries.
The Speaker emphasised that the BRICS countries have everything they need to become a solid foundation for a new, truly democratic and fair world order based on international law and key principles of the UN Charter. Valentina Matvienko focused on promoting partnership cooperation in three key areas: politics and security, the economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts.
The head of the upper house of the Russian parliament considers it practicable to jointly assess the status of the implementation of the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy to 2025. “Ensuring energy and food security, and increasing the role of BRICS in the international monetary and financial system should be among the top priorities of our work,” she said.
“Expanding the BRICS parliamentary dimension is fully in line with the spirit of the time and parliamentary diplomacy as a dialogue of people’s representatives,” Valentina Matviyenko said.
In her opinion, enhancing coordination of joint efforts at international parliamentary venues is part of the agenda as well. In particular, interaction among BRICS partners within the authoritative Inter-Parliamentary Union could be more effective.
The Federation Council Speaker said terrorism was a serious threat, and joint efforts needed to be undertaken to oppose it. Valentina Matvienko thanked the BRICS countries’ representatives for standing with Russia and saying words of sympathy and support in connection with the recent terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
Valentina Matvienko noted that the collective West was making attempts to realign the architecture of international cooperation. “Imposing sanctions on members of national parliaments and creating obstacles to the full-fledged participation of parliamentary delegations in the work of international associations continue to cause serious concern.”
At the same time, the Speaker said, the strength of parliamentary cooperation makes it possible to involve representatives of science, business circles and civil society from the BRICS countries into common discussions and decision-making. She believes that holding regular interparliamentary and expert consultations, developing joint programmes, and coordinating lawmaking activities to ratify agreements signed by the BRICS countries are quite beneficial.
Valentina Matvienko believes that cooperation with the BRICS countries should prioritise the promotion of interaction in high technology, healthcare, environmental protection, culture, sports, youth exchanges and civil society. “In order for us to be able to move forward joint scientific and technical projects, it is important to shape a common technological space which, among other things, implies the convergence of legal regulations. The sooner the lawmakers come up with a legal framework, the sooner the researchers from our countries will reach a new level of cooperation.”
She believes that the parliamentarians should pay special attention to regulating artificial intelligence. “This is a promising area of research that boosts performance across different areas, but the use of AI should be regulated at the level of BRICS countries and the UN.”
Valentina Matvienko expressed hope that the ongoing meeting would be an important step towards institutionalising the BRICS’ parliamentary dimension.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin noted the fast expansion of relations between the BRICS countries. According to him, the meeting will play an important part in making preparations for the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum. The Senator informed the participants about the parliamentarians’ meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress of the People’s Republic of China Lou Qinjian emphasised that China was in favour of building confidence and expanding cooperation, as well as promoting inclusive economic globalisation and deepening coordination within BRICS.
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation of the National Assembly of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa Supra Mahumapelo noted that the country was committed to the BRICS principles and aimed to strengthen cooperation.
Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt Karim Darwish noted the interest among many countries in joining BRICS, since the association offers an opportunity to achieve balance in international relations.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, senators Vladimir Dzhabarov, Andrey Denisov and Sergei Kislyak,[YB1] and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, as well as members of parliaments and diplomatic officials from the BRICS countries.