Representatives of the Russian regions look forward to stepping up cooperation with their colleagues in Bahrain, Valentina Matvienko pointed out.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko had a meeting with King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, as well as senators of the Russian Federation Galina Karelova, Alexander Varfolomeev and Mohmad Akhmadov took part in the meeting.
The Federation Council Speaker said that the visit by the King of Bahrain to Russia demonstrated that the bilateral relations between the two countries have reached a high level and are rooted in friendship, mutual respect and cooperation in the interests of their people.
The King of Bahrain responded by expressing his interest in maintaining regular contacts.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa emphasised the importance of Russia-Bahrain relations by saying that he was committed to expanding them by carrying out the agreements which were signed in Moscow.
Valentina Matvienko went on to say that as a chamber representing the regions, the Federation Council viewed promoting region-to-region ties as its priority.
“This offers us an additional major avenue for promoting our relations. Representatives of the Russian regions look forward to forging closer ties with their colleagues in Bahrain,” Valentina Matvienko pointed out.
She noted that Russian lawmakers were committed to strengthening and expanding ties with their colleagues in Bahrain. The Speaker informed the other party about the Federation Council’s decision to establish a cooperation group with the Consultative Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain with Senator Mohmad Akhmadov as its chair. “By creating the friendship group, we can give a meaningful impetus to Russia-Bahrain relations along the parliamentary track,” Valentina Matvienko said.
During the conversation, the parties discussed cooperation within multilateral parliamentary platforms, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The Federation Council Speaker confirmed her invitation for female representatives from Bahrain to attend the Fourth Eurasian Women’s Forum, which is scheduled to take place in St Petersburg on 18–20 September.
The meeting’s agenda also included youth contacts between Russia and Bahrain, including efforts to promote cooperation between the Federation Council’s Young Legislators’ Chamber and the young lawmakers from the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Promoting cooperation with Bahrain in education and personnel training, as well as in arts and culture, was also on the meeting’s agenda.
The Federation Council Speaker reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to easing visa requirements between Russia and Bahrain as much as possible. “We believe that enabling our people to travel between the two countries as easily as possible would help expand our bilateral ties in all their aspects, primarily in culture, research, sports and in terms of business undertakings, and would also increase our tourist flows several times,” Valentina Matvienko said in conclusion.