PHOTO: State Duma
Meeting of Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin (right) and President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament Roberto Fico (left)
President of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico of the Italian Parliament visited Russia and met with Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin on March 5, 2019.
PHOTO: State Duma
Bilateral meeting between Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin (right) and President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament Roberto Fico (left)
Speaker Volodin noted that President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte have done a lot to develop relations between countries. For instance, commodity turnover between the countries grew by 12.7% last year, and exchange of students and tourist flow also increased. Russian-Italy relations remain good, and 500 Italian companies work in Russia.
Yet, Speaker Volodin said that work at the inter-parliamentary level is still far from being perfect. He lamented that a lack of systematic work in the parliamentary direction led to lost opportunities to develop relations at the inter-parliamentary level, and welcomed the arrival of Speaker Fico as an impetus to the development of relations and increased dialogue.
For the bilateral meeting, Chairman Volodin stressed that issues of humanitarian cooperation and cultural exchanges are one of the priorities of the mutual decisions, and that issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation should be discussed since “within the parliamentary dimension a lot can be done to develop relations between our countries and understanding between our peoples.”
PHOTO: State Duma
President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Italy Roberto Fico addresses Russian parliamentarians
In the plenary session that followed, the Speaker Fico addressed the Russian parliamentarians and noted that Italian deputies advocate return of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
“Italy believes that the inter-parliamentary dialogue is fundamental for solving the problems we face. Therefore, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, which is part of the Council of Europe, advocates the lifting of anti-Russia sanctions and the participation of the Russian delegation in the parliamentary sessions of the Council of Europe. The Russian participation in the work of this organization is fundamental for solving problems that the Council of Europe deals with. Otherwise, we will deny the very principle of inter-parliamentary dialogue,” said Roberto Fico.
PHOTO: State Duma
Meeting of the High Russian-Italian Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue
The day concluded with the meeting of the High Russian-Italian Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue. During the meeting, Speaker Volodin stressed that the EU sanctions policy on Russia hampers the potential of Russian-Italian relations, and noted that despite the sanctions and restrictions measure the number of joint ventures producing goods of Italian companies in Russia has grown, especially since the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Giuseppe Conte with the leadership of leading Italian companies last October in Moscow.
Among the priority subjects of the commission were the role of parliaments in preserving foundations of international law, solving the migration problem and the inter-parliamentary dialogue between Russia and PACE.
On the migration issue, Speaker Volodin believed that it was necessary for countries to pay more attention to the Southern Mediterranean region, taking into account threats emanating from North Africa and the Middle East that directly affect the European security. He urged all levels to create socio-economic conditions for the return of refugees to their homeland, and to provide humanitarian assistance to those who need it. He added that exchange of experience between Russia and Italy in solving the migration problem would be mutually beneficial.
For PACE, Speaker Volodin said that PACE norms must be brought in line with the Statute of the Council of Europe, and thanked Roberto Fico for his speech at the plenary session earlier.
PHOTO: State Duma
Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin (right) and President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament Roberto Fico (left)
Speaker Volodin said Russia is ready for a dialogue on the principles of friendship and mutually beneficial partnership, and that formation of a common humanitarian and legal space from Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean meets the interests of the peoples living on the Eurasian continent. He talked about Russia’s work in this field, including new inter-parliamentary formats. Speaker Volodin invited Speaker Fico to International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism” which will be held in Moscow on July 1-2, and also offered him to join the Fourth Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments, which will be held in Astana this autumn.
Speaker Fico said that the Commission was a platform where one could discuss any issues, and that members should look into the essence of the problems to reach concrete solutions.
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
