Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
thanked
the parliamentarians from Latin America for their participation in the Conference.
“The distances are huge, but, as it turned out, they mean nothing, as our friendship is much stronger. It is even more difficult to get here when you are under pressure. And we all know well what the United States of America can do to preserve its hegemony in the world,” noted Vyacheslav Volodin in his speech at the plenary session of the International Parliamentary Conference “Russia — Latin America”.
He said that the Conference made helped intensify inter-parliamentary contacts: for example, there was signed an agreement between the State Duma and the Parliament of Venezuela on cooperation, and there was also held the first meeting of the high-level interparliamentary commission with Nicaragua.
“This is a really good result when we build our relations on the principles of friendship, mutual respect, non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states and, of course, mutually beneficial cooperation,” he added.
“We came to the conclusion that the parliamentary dimension needed new forms of cooperation, especially when we saw their results. Earlier, we signed an agreement on the creation of a Commission with the first country in Latin America — Cuba. And we see that its results are obvious. And it has shown its effectiveness,” stressed the Chairman of the State Duma.
According to the Chairman of the State Duma, an agreement granting to the State Duma a permanent observer status at the Central American Parliament will be signed on the sidelines of the Conference. “For our part, we consider it right, and we also hope to consider this issue today if a high-level commission with PARLACEN is created and we can systematically work to build relations within the parliamentary dimension,” he added.
Vyacheslav Volodin emphasized that parliaments should make their own contribution to the development of relations between countries. “We see the ongoing development of relations, we see how much the heads of our states are doing for this. We see how they set the trends for the development. But what about the parliamentary contribution? What have we done for that?” he asked, addressing the participants of the plenary session.
“The decisions we adopted will help us use the parliamentary dimension more effectively, as it is a format, which will be an additional driver for the development of relations between our countries. You understand perfectly well that today’s conditions are special: we live in a situation where we face challenges every day,” added Vyacheslav Volodin.
On September 29 — October 2, the First International Parliamentary Conference
“Russia – Latin America” is being held in Moscow at the initiative of the State
Duma. More than 200 participants, including parliamentarians from different
countries of Latin America and the Caribbean Region, representatives of the expert community, public figures and diplomats are expected to take part in the Conference. They plan to discuss with their Russian colleagues relevant issues
of the international parliamentary agenda.
On Friday, September 29, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin addressed the Conference participants.
The following round tables were held as part of the events of the Conference:
- Equal and mutually beneficial economic cooperation: role of the parliaments
- Development of humanitarian ties between Russia and Latin America: contribution of the parliaments
- Just multipolar world: role of the parliamentary diplomacy
- Security for all: position of the parliaments
On October 2, the plenary session of the International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Latin America” is being held at the State Duma (the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions) on the topic “Cooperation for a just world for all”.
