Economic cooperation in conditions of sanctions
The EU sanctions
policy on Russia hampers the realization of the potential of Russian-Italian
relations, Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
stressed. However, despite the sanctions and restrictions measures, the number of joint ventures producing goods of Italian
companies in Russia is growing, and the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Giuseppe
Conte with the leadership of leading Italian companies held in October last
year in Moscow was extremely important for the promotion of investment
projects.
“Our joint task is to ensure conditions for the implementation of decisions taken by the heads of our countries,” the Chairman of the State Duma stressed.
Creating a digital economy
It is also important to promote bilateral cooperation in the high-tech sphere, in the field of creating a digital economy, the economy of the future.
“Today we all are looking for ways to solve the issues of creating a favorable environment for the development of new technologies, and the experience that Russia and Italy have will help us to take these steps together,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
International agenda
Among the priority subjects of the commission’s international agenda are the role of parliaments in preserving the foundations of international law, solving the migration problem and the inter-parliamentary dialogue between Russia and PACE, said the Chairman of the State Duma.
“In our opinion making unilateral decisions to withdraw from the Iranian “nuclear deal” and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the United States thinks only of its own interests. Thereby the US creates threats for European countries,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
“European parliamentarians should have their say in defense of the sovereign interests of Europe,” he said. “In matters of global security, a lot depends on us. It would be right not to keep silent and to do everything possible to reduce the tension in Europe,” said the Chairman of the State Duma. He noted that peremptory decisions that are made by the United States unilaterally threaten European countries, which is unacceptable in Russia's opinion.
The Chairman of the State Duma believes that to solve the migration problem “it is necessary to pay more attention to the Southern Mediterranean region, taking into account threats emanating from North Africa and the Middle East that directly affect the European security.”
“We urge at all levels to create socio-economic conditions for the return of refugees, including Syrian, to their homeland. It is important to provide humanitarian assistance to those who need it,” said Viacheslav Volodin. He believes that the exchange of experience between our countries in solving the migration problem will be mutually beneficial.
Speaking about the crisis in the Council of Europe, the Chairman of the State Duma stated that “everyone is interested in preserving the Council of Europe, and these are 47 states.”
“To achieve this, it is necessary to solve a fundamental task — to bring the PACE norms in line with the Statute of the Council of Europe,” he said. Viacheslav Volodin thanked Roberto Fico for the assessment of the current events, which he gave at his speech before the members of the State Duma earlier.
Interaction and common humanitarian and legal space
“We are ready for a dialogue on the principles of friendship and mutually beneficial partnership. We presume that the formation of a common humanitarian and legal space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean meets the interests of the peoples living on the Eurasian continent. We are conducting this work, including within new inter-parliamentary formats,” said Viacheslav Volodin. He invited Roberto Fico to the International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism”, which will be held in Moscow on July 1–2, 2019, and also offered to take part in the Fourth Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments, which will be held in Astana this autumn.
Look into the essence of the problems
Roberto Fico believes that within the framework of the commission’s meeting ”a fair and frank conversation will take place.“ He stated that the work should not be formal, the members of the commission should look into the essence of the problems that will be discussed and come to concrete solutions. “I believe that the work of the commission is very important, and in general the inter-parliamentary dialogue is very important,” said the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament.
The commission is a platform where you can discuss any issues, he stressed. Roberto Fico believes that participation of representatives of both the parliamentary majority and the minority promotes pluralism.
At the end of his speech, he presented as a souvenir a copy of an archival document related to the visit of State Duma members to Italy in 1916, during the First World War.
“We found this document in the archive of the Chamber of Deputies,” said Roberto Fico.
