He reminded that the parliamentarians will work in PACE, to which Russia returned at the request of most countries of the Council of Europe.
“It would be right to build work in PACE on an equal basis. We would like our colleagues in the parliamentary structure to know this. It would be right to build work without double standards,” said 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)
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“PACE is a parliamentary organization, not a political one. And in this regard, PACE needs to get rid of those atavisms that it inherited wishing to become a political structure. I am talking about monitoring and interference in the sovereign affairs of other states,” he said.
The Chairman of the State Duma emphasized that non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states should be the norm, the working rule. He said that the institutions of the Council of Europe should be accessible to all PACE member countries and work in the interests of all states.
“PACE, in principle, should reconsider its work strategy, proceeding not from narrow decisions and political statements to please some countries, but [based on] approaches that could unite all the Council of Europe countries. We have common challenges: the fight against terrorism, global security, migration policy, and in this regard it would be right to pay attention to the harmonization of legislation, adopt model laws. All this would unite us, would make the work more useful,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
“When people begin to engage in intrigues on issues on which it is impossible to reach unilateral decisions, this leads to an imbalance and to the fact that the organization is losing its significance,” he concluded.
The Chairman of the State Duma also urged PACE to do everything to protect history from rewriting. Such attempts, he noted, are being undertaken in Poland, Ukraine, and some other countries that are ready to give up their own history to please political interests.
International agenda of the State Duma for the autumn session
According to Viacheslav Volodin, in September the 4th Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments will be held in Nur Sultan. In October, a conference on the fight against terrorism and interregional interaction will be held in Istanbul. The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly will be held in Yerevan in November, and the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia will be held in December.
“A lot can be done within the parliamentary dimension,” the Chairman of the State Duma emphasized. “The State Duma will continue to be guided by the interests of our citizens, the country, and uphold the principles of non-interference in the sovereign affairs of other states, the rule of international law and the leading role of the United Nations in its international activity,” concluded Viacheslav Volodin.
