IPA CIS Spring Session to be Held on 15-16 April in Mixed Format

The IPA CIS Spring Session, which includes meetings of the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions, meeting of the IPA CIS Council and the 52^nd Plenary Session of the IPA CIS, will be held in the Tavricheskiy Palace on 15-16 April 2021.

The Session will also include the International Parliamentary Conference “Global Challenges and Threats in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Terrorism and Violent Extremism”, organized in cooperation with partner international organizations.

All events will be held in a mixed format via videoconferencing.

On 15 April, meetings of the following IPA CIS Permanent Commissions will take place:

• Joint Commission at the IPA CIS for the Harmonization of National Laws Related to Security, Countering Emerging Threats and Challenges;

• IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Defense and Security Issues;

• IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Political Issues and International Cooperation;

• IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Economy and Finance;

On the same day, the International Parliamentary Conference “Global Challenges and Threats in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Terrorism and Violent Extremism” will take place.

The Conference is co-organized by the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. The event will be held via videoconferencing.

The plenary session of the Conference will begin at 12:00 and will be moderated by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. The event will be attended by heads of the CIS parliaments, representatives of international organizations, academia and experts, representatives of public and relevant organizations. The plenary session will be broadcasted live on the IPA CIS website and the Vmeste-RF TV channel.

The meeting of the IPA CIS Council will be held via videoconferencing in the Tavricheskiy Palace on 15 April, at 4 pm. The event will be attended by the heads of parliamentary delegations to the Assembly, experts and representatives of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat. Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko will chair the meeting.

The meeting participants will consider and approve the draft agenda of the 52^nd Plenary Session of the IPA CIS to be held on 16 April 2021. In addition, Head of the CIS Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev will brief the Council members on the decisions of the Council of the CIS Heads of Government dated 6 November 2020 and 18 December 2020.

Furthermore, Chair of the Expert Advisory Board, Rector of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics Igor Maksimtsev will make a presentation on the activities of the Expert Advisory Board on Economy under the IPA CIS and on the tasks of implementing 2030 CIS Strategy on Economic Growth.

In addition, the Council members will discuss the preparations for the Ninth Nevsky International Ecological Congress, scheduled for 27-28 May 2021, and the Third Eurasian Women's Forum, which will be held on 13-15 October 2021.

The 52^nd Plenary Session of the IPA CIS will be devoted to the issues of legislative regulation of the migration process during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of the CIS parliaments in this process. The event will begin at 11:00 on 16 April 2021.