The conversation took place on the sidelines of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament held in Athens, Greece, on 21–22 October.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko met with President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Hendrik Daems.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament held in Athens, Greece, on 21–22 October.
The parties discussed matters related to the functioning of PACE and collaboration between PACE and Russia.
Valentina Matviyenko stated that the atmosphere at PACE had grown more constructive in recent time. “We are confident that the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly have a considerable potential for unification. It is important to use it in the interests of all Europeans.”
Russian parliamentarians are ready to take an active part in joint constructive work, Valentina Matviyenko stressed. Today, in her opinion, PACE needs a unifying agenda, including matters such as joint efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic and a campaign of inoculation.
The Federation Council Speaker also mentioned matters pertaining to the observance of PACE regulations and procedures.
Valentina Matvienko stressed that it was important to ensure equal access to PACE and CE events for all delegations despite the public health restrictions. She pointed out that the so-called vaccine discrimination of parliamentarians was inadmissible. Specifically, this concerns the PACE events in Strasbourg, France.
As a positive signal, she described PACE’s decision to send an assessment mission and its work at the parliamentary elections in Russia.
She also focused on the need to ensure the rights of Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine and urged PACE to renounce the spirit of confrontation and bias pervading its assessments of the situation in Crimea.
Valentina Matvienko invited Hendrik Daems to visit Crimea and acquaint himself with the living conditions of the Crimean Tatars and other local ethnic groups. “The President of Russia has issued an Executive Order rehabilitating the Crimean Tatars and other ethnic groups that suffered discrimination and repressions in the Stalin period. Their rights to use their native languages and get an education in their mother tongue are respected in full; there are schools and a TV channel in the Crimean Tatar language.”
The parties have agreed to continue their dialogue on all subjects of mutual interest.
President Daems praised Russia’s participation in PACE events and reaffirmed an intention to hold an away session of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs in Russia as soon as the pandemic situation allowed this.
The meeting was attended by members of the Russian delegation: Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin, and First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Sergei Kislyak.