Valentina Matvienko: "Decision to hold the 137th IPU Assembly in 2017 in St. Petersburg is a vivid example of inter-parliamentary diplomacy"

Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko wrote in her blogpost dedicated to the Day of Diplomatic Worker of the Russian Federation: “International cooperation remains an important part of my work. It includes bilateral and multilateral ties among parliaments, participation in international parliamentary forums and meetings, as well as addressing various foreign audiences All this is commonly referred to as parliamentary diplomacy. Political, economic, social and cultural realities have significantly increased the role of diplomacy in global politics, expanded its range and led to the development of new approaches and tools”.

“Decision to host the 137th IPU Assembly in 2017 in St. Petersburg is a vivid example of inter-parliamentary diplomacy”, she said.

The decision to host the IPU session in Russia was taken by the IPU Governing Council in Geneva during the last day of deliberations of 135th IPU Assembly on 27 October 2016. One of the main venues for future events of the 137th IPU Assembly will be the Tavrichesky Palace – the headquarters of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.