The Federation Council Speaker spoke about the results of the Russian delegation's participation in the events of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko
Matvienko
Valentina Representative of the executive authority of the city of St Petersburg
summed up the results of the Federal Assembly delegation’s working visit to the Swiss
Confederation. In Geneva, the Federation Council Speaker took part in the 15th
Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament and the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Talking with journalists, the speaker noted that the visit was timely, relevant, and necessary. Valentina Matvienko recalled that Russia joined the IPU in 1906: “We have 119 years of experience in the work of this respected international parliamentary organisation. Russia’s position here is strong because we are always open to dialogue and work constructively.”
According to her, it is always necessary to take advantage of opportunities to participate in major events in order to convey the country’s stance on current international issues: “The very fact that we were able to participate in the Conference without any obstacles speaks to the audience’s interest in dialogue with Russia.”
Valentina Matvienko added that the Inter-Parliamentary Union was one of the few international bias-free and truly independent platforms: “There is no hegemony of any country or group of countries here, and this spirit is carefully preserved.”
The speaker also said that a lot of bilateral meetings were held on the sidelines of the IPU events.
“They are important for promoting of international relations with the global majority, as well as for parliamentary dialogue.”
Valentina Matvienko also reported that the Russian delegation participated in the preparation of the events and development of their final documents: “All our proposals were accepted. We believe that the final documents turned out to be balanced. This also corresponds to the spirit and atmosphere of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.”
“We now know the global majority shares our positions: for compliance with international law, for the key role of the UN, the prevention of introducing rules that no one knows about, and the inadmissibility of interference in the sovereign affairs of states under the guise of humanitarian interventions,” the speaker said.
She also stressed that talks about isolating Russian and unfriendly attitude towards it were only coming from a small group of states: “Those who read out a prepared anti-Russia manual were few. Not even all Western countries allow themselves to do this. There were very balanced speeches made by European speakers in the spirit of true dialogue,” Valentina Matvienko noted.
The speaker added that the delegation took part in a meeting organised by Iran in defence of the UN Charter and international law.
“We are taking away a baggage filled with new ideas, proposals on how to expand parliamentary cooperation, enhance the role of parliaments both in conflict resolution, and how to ensure the overall security and promote interaction of our countries. We believe that the outcome is very good,” Valentina Matvienko concluded.
The Federal Assembly delegation was comprised of Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Lilia Gumerova, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoi, and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky.