Following visit to Moscow, PACE President announces need for dialogue with Russia
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pedro Agramunt, has urged members to maintain communication with the Russian parliament. He said this after a two-day visit to Moscow.
“Russia is a member state of the Council of Europe. Russia is important because without its active participation, we will be unable to effectively fight against terrorism. We will not be able to find a solution to the crisis in Syria. We will not be able to solve the crisis in Ukraine,” Agramunt said.
“On the 24th of June 2016, the Bureau of the Assembly adopted a declaration reaffirming their role as a pan-European forum for inter-parliamentary cooperation between the parliaments of all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. We must preserve the channels of communication with the Russian parliament and we must explore all possibilities of parliamentary diplomacy. I look forward to continuing our interactions with the leadership and the members of the Russian parliament,” Agramunt concluded.
It was also noted that the Council of Europe have more in common with Russia than what divides them.
It was reported that Agramunt held a number of meetings during his visit. These meetings included those with: the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin; the Speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko; the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, Alexey Pushkov and with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev.
The chairman of the Ukrainian delegation in PACE, Volodymyr Ariev, posted on Facebook that such Agramunt’s statements are examples of cowardice, political myopia and a short memory.
“A year ago, the politician discussed the need to return to Crimea and the full support of Ukraine. Now he is quiet about this. Unfortunately, there are many Europeans who are trying to trade principles, perhaps not even just figuratively. Agramunt now risks being entered into PACE history as the president who began the disintegration of the Assembly. However, should we feel sorry for an organization that tramples on its own principles?” Ariev said.