The Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutskiy
Slutsky
Leonid Eduardovich
said that “the term of the seventh convocation of the State Duma is almost over.” “The State Duma’s
five-year term was quite difficult for all of us, but it can be called quite
successful in matters of parliamentary diplomacy,” stressed the parliamentarian.
“The Moscow
Inter-parliamentary Forum was created, which was held twice and the number of participants was comparable to the number of the IPU member-states. Unfortunately,
the pandemic did not allow holding the Forum in 2020 and 2021, but I have no
doubt about its “viability”. I am convinced that as soon as the epidemiological
situation gets better, Moscow will again become the capital of “international parliamentarism”.
And, of course, the task to keep such format will be one of the priorities for members of the State Duma of the next convocation,” said Leonid Slutskiy.
“There were four
meetings of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments in various states. This
format has also proved its effectiveness in developing inter-parliamentary
cooperation and promoting a constructive agenda. The number of participants is
increasing (there are already 60 states) and members of the State Duma of the eight convocation should continue performing activities in this format,” added
the Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs.
“Members of the State Duma actively participated in the activities of inter-parliamentary
organizations, primarily, the IPU and the OSCE PA. It was not always easy, sometimes
we had to withstand the Russophobic attitude, defending the interests of our
state and the historical truth. The same situation was in the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, where the Russian delegation headed by Petr
O. Tolstoy
Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
returned to the organization in the middle of the State Duma’s term.
And the main principle for me in that situation is the more of us are among
them, the less of them are among us! We should communicate our position
directly, continue our dialogue with our European colleagues, and explain our
point of view. And then, maybe, we will be able to understand and hear each
other, and not to believe “the rumor mill” of anti-Russian propaganda,”
stressed Leonid Slutskiy.
“We have managed
to do a lot, but there are still a lot of issues that should be resolved during
the next State Duma’s convocation. In particular, due to COVID-19 -pandemic,
the Committee on International Affairs was not able to hold joint retreats with
the foreign affairs commissions of the parliaments of African states, Latin
America, the Persian Gulf region and several European states. But, I hope, all
these plans will definitely be executed in the near future,” concluded the Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs.
