IPA CIS spring session kicks off

The IPA CIS spring session has kicked off in the headquarters of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member Nations. Heads of the IPA CIS national parliaments and heads of largest international parliamentary assemblies arrived in St. Petersburg.

For the first time ever, the session will bring together distinguished heads of the largest interparliamentary assemblies: President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Saber Chowdhury, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Ilkka Kanerva.

Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko called the session unique in its current format and guest list. According to Valentina Matvienko, "this is a good opportunity for Speakers of Parliaments to meet heads of largest interparliamentary assemblies".

During the spring session, the IPA CIS will hold the meeting of its Permanent Commissions and the 7^th session of the Young CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. This is an opportunity for all member states to share their ideas on how to build an efficient model of a youth parliament.

The Plenary Session of the IPA CIS will take place on Friday. It will focus on cooperation in the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space, model laws on fundamentals of promoting bioenergy; spread and use of genetically modified organisms in agricultural exports; preservation, sustainable use and reclamation of biodiversity.