Grand Session Dedicated to 80th Anniversary of Victory was Held at IPA CIS Headquarters

The Grand Session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, was held in St. Petersburg.

The Session was attended by parliamentary delegations from the Commonwealth countries led by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sagiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalia Kochanova, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlanbek Shakiev, Speaker of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Rustami Emomali,  Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva.

The event was also attended by First Deputy Chair of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov, Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitry Kobitskiy, Secretary General of the CIS Sergey Lebedev, Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Alexander Belskiy.

Opening the meeting, Valentina Matvienko noted that the Great Patriotic War has forever entered the world chronicle, into the historical memory of the Commonwealth as a symbol of unity, courage and fortitude of the peoples of the CIS countries. The speaker is convinced that the Victory anniversary should become not only an occasion for celebrations, but also an incentive for further joint work to preserve memory.

An Appeal of the Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the peoples of the Commonwealth and the World Community in connection with the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was adopted, in which the leaders of the CIS countries called on the peoples of the world not to allow the revival of fascism, Nazism, militarism, and to suppress attempts to unleash a new world war. This was reported by Sergey Lebedev.

All representatives of parliamentary delegations from the Commonwealth countries emphasized the importance of remembering the war's lessons and fostering patriotism and respect for the past in younger generations.

Valentina Matviyenko drew attention to the fact that all speakers were united in their attitude to the preservation of historical truth, in their desire to protect this memory from all kinds of encroachments and pass it on to all subsequent generations.

The Session included a ceremony of the art stamp cancellation issued jointly by Belarus and Russia for the cultural and educational project "Train of Memory". The event was attended by Valentina Matvienko and Natalia Kochanova, who initiated the creation of the project.

After the Grand Session, the participants attended a gala concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.