Vladimir Dzhabarov: "We want to use potential of each senator in international organisation"

During yesterday’s press conference of the leaders of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs titled 'Topical Issues on the International Agenda: the View of MPs', chairman of the Committee Konstantin Kosachev said that efforts are primarily focused on working with allies in such integration structures as the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the Eurasian Union, the CSTO PA, as well as supporting integration processes and giving them a parliamentary dimension for such integration structures as the SCO, BRICS, and the EEU.

As for the work of Russian senators in the OSCE PA, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov explained that the OSCE PA rules do not provide for any discrimination against the Russian delegation: "No one there can ever deprive us of the right to speak. The only thing, they can "scrap" some our resolution, which, by the way, is regularly done by some of our partners. Nevertheless, our delegation works regularly, constantly.

"This year, in agreement with the leadership of the Federation Council, a new delegation will be formed due to the fact that the Federation Council's composition is constantly being updated: senators come from new governors and hold scheduled elections to the legislative assemblies. We want to use the potential of each senator so that they show their worth in this international organisation. And we already have certain results. I mean a resolution titled 'conjugation of integration'. A few years ago, some our partners in the European Union didn't even want to hear about any conjugation of integration. At one time they even cited Ukraine's refusal from any integration with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union as a condition for rapprochement. Now such resolution exists, it is now being developed, being filled with content," Dzhabarov said.

Speaking about the problems between Russian MPs and the OSCE PA, the senator noted: "Russia is the successor of the USSR, one of the founding countries of the OSCE, which hasn't seen its representatives in the OSCE governing bodies for 7-8 years. This interferes with work, because we cannot always to make our point at the meetings of the OSCE PA governing bodies. We will raise the issue at the session to be held in Canada this summer that we need to elect a representative either from Russia or from the CIS countries, our closest allies, to these structures. By the way, at all meetings with our partners in the EEU and the CIS, we always say that we don’t need to vote on command, but we need each other’s support. In this regard, we must learn from Western countries that have been actively grouped to hold or adopt any resolution."

The First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs also mentioned such a parliamentary platform as the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly: "It has made progress. Uzbekistan has joined the IPA CIS again, we are very pleased with this delegation, it is actively engaged. The delegation of Moldova is working again in full format, there are observers from Turkmenistan. That is, this parliamentary platform is also active. "