Two Russian resolutions will be crossed out of the agenda of the annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that opened in the Finnish capital on Sunday, according to a resolution of the Assembly’s Standing Committee.
Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva explained this decision by the absence of the Russian delegation at the session.
The session was to consider two draft resolutions initiated by the Russian delegations – on the inadmissibility of using sanctions against lawmakers from OSCE member countries and on the necessity of joint OSCE measures to prevent manifestations of neo-Nazism.
Earlier, Finland denied entry visas to speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergei Naryshkin and six more Russian lawmakers who were to take part in an OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session opening on Sunday. The Finnish foreign ministry motivated this denial by the fact that these Russian nationals were on the European Union’s sanction list. After that, the entire Russian delegation said it would not go to Helsinki. “My colleagues agreed with me that it was impossible to reduce the level of representation of the Russian delegation at this session – the more so that it is devoted to such a vital date as the 40th anniversary of signing the Helsinki Final Act – the founding document,” Naryshkin said.
Russian lawmaker says his participation in OSCE PA session will be limited to one day
Russian lawmaker, a member of the State Duma upper parliament house, Nikolai Kovalyov said on Sunday his participation in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would be limited to one day only.
“We never seek to close ways of cooperation. But my participation will be limited to one day. I am flying back to Russia and will not attend any further meetings,” he said at a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Committee.
He called on other participants in the session to “demand the return of functions to the Russian delegation” in order to ensure “fruitful cooperation.” He said hostile attitudes displayed by a number of countries to Russia had not grounds. “No threat is coming from Russia. We have no plans of aggression. The Baltic countries shouldn’t be afraid and the Americans shouldn’t speak about it,” he said.
Russia will consider any resolutions of the annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) currently underway in the Finnish capital legally void, Kovalyov said.
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