At the end of his visit to Moscow, Pedro Agramunt spoke in favour of the continuation of contact between parliamentarians of all Council of Europe member States. “The Assembly is a pan-European parliamentary forum and the voice of MPs from all Europe’s 47 countries must be heard in the Assembly,” he said.
“It appears that the Russian Parliament will not submit credentials of the new delegation to the Assembly during our January part-session. I told the Speaker of the State Duma that I regret this decision because the Parliamentary Assembly brings together 47 member States of the CoE, not 46. However, we must continue dialogue with Russian MPs, because if their voice is not heard, our debates cannot reflect the diversity of views and opinions that exist in Europe. The Speakers of the State Duma and the Federation Council, as well as the Russian parliamentarians from the Foreign Affairs Committee of both chambers, are open to discussions and this is a good basis for the continuation of our cooperation. I look forward to the continuation of our dialogue,” concluded PACE President.
During the visit to Moscow, Mr Agramunt held meetings with the Speaker of the State Duma, as well as MPs from both the State Duma and the Federation Council. He also attended the Gaidar Forum where he delivered a key note address at the round table devoted to the 40th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Spain and Russia (1977-2017). He also met the Rector and professors of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy.
