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)
noted the importance of developing the dialogue.
“It should be recognized that it has not been as effective lately as at the level of executive power. Therefore, we need to do everything so that contacts within the framework of the parliamentary dimension to be more effective, which means that we will understand each other better,” said the Chairman of the State Duma and noted that there was no dialogue within the framework of inter-parliamentary communications for a long time.
“We will support in every way steps that pursue the achievement of the goals of mutual understanding, trust, the absence of double standards and non-interference in the sovereign affairs of other states,” he said.
In her turn, Tsveta Karayancheva noted that the friendship groups of the parliaments of Russia and Bulgaria signed a memorandum, which is aimed at developing relations in this area. She also stressed that ”we have great opportunities for the development of relations in the sphere of economy and energy, as well as in the field of tourism, education, science, culture, and contacts between us should produce concrete results.“
In addition, the President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria assured that “the attitude of the EU and Bulgaria towards Russia is an important factor in the development of international relations.”
“Russia should participate in the processes that relate to the adoption of important decisions,” Tsveta Karayancheva believes.
Wait-and-see approach
The Chairman of the State Duma noted that ”it is important for us to build together the relations that would be worthy of our ancestors.“ Diplomatic relations between Russia and Bulgaria, which began after the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish conquest by Russia, have been 140 years old.
“In terms of politeness, everyone starts talking about the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. And it would be right to say: this is 140 years from the time when Russian troops liberated Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke, from genocide. Why are we afraid to say this? This is also hampered by the European Union, or is there someone in the European Union who is against it?” Viacheslav Volodin stressed.
“If we speak about Italy, it is located further from us, while we can hear its voice. France — President [Emmanuel] Macron states his position, Germany — [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and parliament reaffirm their position. Slovakia — [Speaker of the National Council] Andrej Danko expressed his personal view at the Victory Parade on May 9th. Yes, it brings together. And everything else is a wait-and-see approach: let the big countries decide, and we will wait … Well, ok, continue to wait,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
Balkan Stream
Also, the President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria pointed out the importance of ensuring the security of gas supplies to Bulgaria and the EU from Russia. “I can note the importance of the pipeline that goes from the Turkish Stream through the territory of Bulgaria towards European countries. The construction of this gas pipeline is carried out in accordance with all EU standards,” she said and stated that this would help to avoid a repetition of the situation with South Stream when Bulgaria was forced to stop work on this project because violations of the Third Energy Package were revealed.
Tsveta Karayancheva reported that the construction of the pipeline begins in accordance with European directives: “We do not evade fulfilling the relevant obligations that we have assumed in relation to our citizens. That is why we made amendments to our country's energy strategy, and by the end of 2020, in full compliance with European directives we will complete the construction of a pipeline, the so-called Balkan Stream, which will ensure gas supplies to other European countries.”
Development of economic relations
Speaking about the need to develop economic relations, the Chairman of the State Duma stressed that it is necessary to develop trade relations between countries on the basis of mutual benefit, and the methods of the United States that launched a trade war against Russia, China, Iran, and other countries, are unacceptable. When politics takes over, this leads to a decrease of the role of international organizations, ”and problems, conflicts that lead the world to turbulence arise.“
Viacheslav Volodin noted that under the conditions of sanctions ”within three years our markets were reoriented from European markets to Asian, to markets of other countries, and during the second year the economy began to grow, it overcame the difficulties we faced.“ He pointed out that the Russian Federation came out ”to full import substitution in food, in the military-industrial complex, by 95% in the oil and gas complex, and throughout the entire period agricultural growth was more than 3%.“
The Chairman of the State Duma also reminded that Bulgaria supported the imposition of sanctions and their extension, “but in spite of this we must continue to communicate and discuss decisions that, if not bring us closer, will allow us to better understand each other.”
Viacheslav Volodin said that trade with the United States ”is growing more than before the sanctions period, which is not true for Bulgaria.“ “We have a positive dynamic with you, it is 2.8%, and with the USA — 8%,” he said.
Tsveta Karayancheva thinks that agriculture and tourism are areas where Russia and Bulgaria could cooperate more actively.
PACE situation
Speaking about the situation in PACE, Viacheslav Volodin noted that it would be wrong to stand aside when the rights of the national delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are violated.
“47 countries that have united in the Council of Europe are equal. And when the rights of the national delegation of one of the countries are violated, the rights of the people are violated, the rights of the country represented by the members of the Parliamentary Assembly are violated. And to stand aside and watch from afar what is happening, this is probably wrong. For our part, we have never condoned decisions that are contrary to decisions of international organizations, international law, that violate the rights of other countries, and we believe that this must be followed in the future,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
He stressed that Russia and Bulgaria are connected by a long history of relations, ”and it brought our peoples so close together that we must do everything possible to bring this friendship further.“
