Leadership of IPA CIS Council Secretariat Discussed Cooperation Prospects with St. Petersburg MPs

20 December 2022

Leadership of IPA CIS Council Secretariat Discussed Cooperation Prospects with St. Petersburg MPs

Secretary General of IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy and his deputies – plenipotentiary representatives of the parliaments of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia at the IPA CIS Viktor Kogut, Igor Musalimov, Nurbek Satvaldiev and Irina Sokolova took part in a meeting with St. Petersburg MPs led by Speaker of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Alexandr Belskiy.

Heads of consular offices and representatives of other international parliamentary organizations also took part in the traditional December event dedicated to summing up the results of the year and discussing prospects for further cooperation.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy noted that for the IPA CIS the outgoing year was marked by the 30th anniversary of the organization. All the events were timed to this historic milestone to one degree or another, starting with the solemn meeting of the IPA CIS Council held on 29 March in Almaty – in the same House of Friendship where the agreement on the establishment of the Assembly was signed three decades ago. 

Secretary General focused on the most striking events of the outgoing year. He spoke about the Youth Interparliamentary Forum “Young Parliamentarians – Looking into the Future of the Commonwealth”, the VII International Cultural and Educational Forum “Children of the Commonwealth”, which brought together schoolchildren of the CIS countries on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, and International Research and Practice Conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedom in the CIS Member Nations, and other events.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy also noted that this year the Assembly hosted for the first time the forum of light industry and designers “Commonwealth of Fashion”, which aroused great interest from participants in this field from all CIS countries, as well as the International Tourism Forum Travel Hub “Commonwealth”.

One of the main events of the year, according to the Secretary General, was the autumn session, which for the first time took place not in the Tavricheskiy Palace (the IPA CIS headquarters), but in one of the Commonwealth states. The events were held in Samarkand, the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Speaking about cooperation with the authorities of St. Petersburg, announced next year as the cultural capital of the CIS, Dmitriy Kobitskiy noted their fruitfulness and effectiveness. Secretary General said that the Assembly was open to active interaction with the city Legislative Assembly, whose deputies often participate in its events.

Alexandr Belskiy noted that the Legislative Assembly paid great attention to interstate cooperation in the format of parliamentary and people’s diplomacy. He also called on the event participants to remain in constant dialogue and lay the basis for new communication between peoples and states in a rapidly changing world.

Photo: Press service of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg