During the meeting, which took place on April 3, Chairman of the State Duma 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)
and President of the Republic of Angola João Lourenço discussed the further development of relations between the countries and the intensification of inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Viacheslav Volodin reminded that meeting of João Lourenço with Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled for the next day. “This will give a strong impetus for relations at the inter-parliamentary level as well,” he stressed.
“Relations with members of African parliaments are developing dynamically, and, of course, your arrival is giving a serious impulse to make them even more dynamic,” added the Chairman of the State Duma. According to him, the development of relations can affect a variety of areas, including cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, in the field of culture and education, as 15,000 students from African countries, and 2,000 of them are from Angola, are studying in the Russian Federation.
During the meeting, Viacheslav Volodin invited the delegation from Angola and its parliament to take part in the Inter-Parliamentary Conference “Russia-Africa”, which is scheduled for July 3.
“In order for the country to fully participate in the dialogue, which we are planning to hold here, in Moscow, within the framework of the inter-parliamentary dimension, on the development of relations, security issues, challenges that exist in the world today, and, of course, interregional cooperation”, stressed the Chairman of the State Duma.
João Lourenço thanked Viacheslav Volodin for the opportunity to visit the State Duma and speak before the parliamentarians, reminding that he himself had been a parliamentarian for a long time.
The Angolan President also thanked Russia for the help that it invariably provided to the Angolan people in relation to the establishment of statehood after their independence, noting that this assistance ”continues to this day“.
“A lot of Angolan specialists, not only civil servants but also military personnel who occupy important positions in almost all spheres in our country, received their education in Russia, and continue to study here,” said João Lourenço, adding that he himself studied in the Soviet Union.
“Russia has always been a very important partner, and our relations are stable,” stressed the President of Angola. According to him, at the same time, economic cooperation between the two countries should be developed.
At the end of the meeting, Viacheslav Volodin expressed hope that this ”visit will give a pace to the development of relations between our parliaments, and inter-parliamentary cooperation will be more effective.“
