Valentina Matvienko was elected President of the 137th IPU Assembly

During the meeting of the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation  Valentina Matvienko was elected President of the 137^th IPU Assembly.

Also during the meeting approved the applications to join the IPU from Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Vanuatu and according the the status of an associate member to the the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Turkmenistan and Vanuatu became new IPU members, and Uzbekistan restored its membership in the organization. The number of full-fledged members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union reached 176, with 12 associate members.

According to Saber Chowdhury, the IPU is increasingly transforming into a parliamentary dimension of the UN. "Over the past three years, 10 new members joined the IPU. This testifies to the growing authority of the organization, the strengthening of the role of inter-parliamentary diplomacy in the world. The process of IPU's expansion will continue. "

Today, the plenary session of the IPU Assembly started its work today. The theme of the general debate for deliberations during the next three days is "Promoting cultural pluralism and peace through inter-faith and inter-ethnic dialogue." 133 delegates registered in the list of speakers on this theme, with more than 60 speakers of parliaments and heads of delegations.