IPA CIS 47th Plenary Session takes place

The 47^th Plenary Session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States presided by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace.

The address of Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-West Federal District Alexander Beglov was delivered to the participants of the Session.

The Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council drew the outcomes of the Assembly’s activities for the past period. According to Valentina Matvienko, the activities of IPA CIS bodies, permanent commissions, expert boards and working groups were carried out in full compliance with the approved plans. As a result of these activities, the IPA CIS adopted 20 documents in 2017.

Valentina Matvienko noted that during the previous year the IPA CIS had held a number of major international events with MP’s involvement. On 28 March 2017 the Parliamentary Conference on Combating International Terrorism, organized by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace. The event attracted great interest bringing together representatives of 18 international organizations including the delegations of the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Also, according to the IPA CIS Council Chairperson, the 137 IPU Assembly. an international event of utmost importance held last October in the IPA CIS headquarters, became the most representative Assembly in the IPU's history.

Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko addressed the participants of the meeting. He noted that the IPA CIS facilitated a climate of trust and cooperation across the Commonwealth countries.

In the course of the Session, the MPs focused on the cross-cutting theme of the Session – the Intercultural Dialogue of the Commonwealth Countries: Status, Prospects and Legal Support”, and adopted a number of model laws in the field of culture, education, civil and municipal service.

Speaker of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan Gulshat Mammadova noted that the experience in cultural cooperation, accumulated by the IPA CIS, will allow carrying out effective work on improving national laws in this area.

President of the Wolesi Jirga of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi drew attention to the need to preserve monuments of cultural heritage globally.