Vyacheslav
Volodin
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)
chaired the meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization held in Minsk. The speakers of the parliaments of the CSTO member states, as well as representatives of Vietnam,
Iran, China, and Cuba took part in the meeting.
Outcomes of joint work
“The priority of the Parliamentary Assembly is the convergence and harmonization of national
legislations,” stressed Vyacheslav Volodin. “The quality of joint work aimed at preventing threats in the area of responsibility of the organization largely
depends on the creation of a common legal security space,” he added.
According to Vyacheslav
Volodin, since the establishment of the CSTO PA, there were adopted 82
documents, including 12 model laws and agreements, 70 recommendations in the field of countering terrorism and extremism, ensuring information security,
responding to emergency situations, military-technical cooperation, and providing humanitarian assistance.
“All these
decisions were adopted by consensus. For us, this is of particular importance,”
said the Chairman of the State Duma
He proposed
to use more effectively the practice of adopting political statements by the CSTO PA “as a tool for outlining common approaches on topical issues of the agenda.”
Vyacheslav
Volodin noted the importance of joint work in the field of ensuring information
and digital security of the CSTO member states. “We have already adopted nine
relevant model acts, and seven more documents are being developed,” he said. In addition, the CSTO PA Council will consider the possiblity to include in the Assembly's programme of activities until 2025 the issue related to the development
of recommendations for convergence and harmonization of national legislations
in the field of security of critical information infrastructure.
“We expect to prepare a model law “On Information Protection and Cybersecurity” by autumn,”
said Vyacheslav Volodin.
Developing
native languages
Vyacheslav
Volodin noted the speech of the representative of China in Russian at the CSTO
PA meeting and added: “We should study our national languages, languages of interethnic communication, Chinese language. English is a dead language. Time
has passed.”
According to the Chairman of the State Duma, China is a good example of preservation of culture,
tradition. “There is such a tolerance in all things, philosophy which started
many centuries ago,” he said.
“And,
colleagues, by the way, I visited India. At the meeting, we saw that everyone
was preparing, but it turned out that there was no interpreter. Because all the officials in India speak their native language — Hindi. While we still think
that we should translate from English,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
He added that
India defending its interests, protecting its sovereignty, “has succeeded in economy and became the fifth economy in the world. While the colonialists,
England, have fallen from the fifth place”.
Unity of opinions and positions
The Chairwoman
of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova in her speech noted the ongoing attempts of Western
countries to make the situation in the Republic worse. According to her, in such conditions the role of the CSTO as a guarantor of security is growing.
“More than ever, we should be united,” she stressed. “We must more decisively
promote the interests of our countries in international associations,” she
added.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko emphasized that the current situation dictates
the need to pay special attention to external threats. Improving the legal
framework of the CSTO, creating an effective system to counter threats on the inner contour, combating terrorism, extremism, protecting historical memory and traditional values — the CSTO PA members should always pay their attention to these important issues, he is convinced. “The future of our countries depends
on joint consolidated work,” added Vladimir Andreichenko.
The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan noted the contribution of the CSTO PA to the coordination of the legislative activities
of the parliaments, aimed at achieving the goals and targets of the organization.
“Mutual respect,
the desire to take into account each other's interests, development of consensus approaches, support of allies in difficult situations to achieve
concrete results — that is the unshakable basis of our organization,” he
stressed.
“Over the years
of its activity, the CSTO PA has established itself as an effective
inter-parliamentary dialogue platform where topical issues of a regional and international agenda are discussed,” said the Chairman of Mazhilis of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerlan Koshanov in his speech.
He also stressed
that one of the most important issues in the work of the organization was to ensure biological safety.
The Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlanbek Shakiev is convinced that
the challenges and threats to security in the CSTO region of responsibility
affect many areas and it is important to continue developing compromise
approaches to solve problems and create new formats of cooperation.
The Chairman of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan
Mahmadtoir Zoir Zokirzoda noted a high level of interaction in the organization.
“We continue the practice of adopting joint statements on the current agenda,”
he said. Mahmadtoir Zoir Zokirzoda also called for enhancing cooperation within
the CSTO PA.
The CSTO
Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov made a report on the situation in the area of responsibility of the organization.
He expressed
confidence that the current meeting “will help to continue constructive
interaction on the whole range of issues of mutual interest.” Imangali
Tasmagambetov noted the relevance and demand of the parliamentary dimension as part of the CSTO activities, “especially in the conditions of a sharply escalated
international situation, which is going through a profound transformation.”
