Naryshkin rule out the presence of OSCE observers in the elections to the State Duma – Forbes Russia

The State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said that observers Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) will not be present at the September elections to the State Duma. He said this in an interview with the newspaper “Izvestia».

Naryshkin said that Russia does not refuse dialogue with PACE. In May, the Chairman plans to meet with the current Chairman of the PACE Pedro Agrumuntom in the framework of the session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly in St. Petersburg. However, as he explained Naryshkin, deciding to limit the rights of the Russian delegation to PACE “made it impossible for the presence of observers at the elections to the State Duma.” At the same time the polls will be invited observers from other international organizations -. The OSCE, the national parliaments

«I wish that the PACE last minds prevailed. Instead of coming up with new restrictions, it is necessary to quickly make a decision that the barriers to inter-parliamentary dialogue should not be. If such an understanding will come, we’ll come back to this area, “- said State Duma Chairman and expressed the hope that the institutions of the dialogue will not be destroyed, but” the traditions of European parliamentarianism will be stronger than any external provocation »

In addition, Naryshkin. He noted the need for the European politicians and MPs who believe that sanctions against Russia to cancel, not afraid to talk about it openly.

Earlier, PACE deprived the Russian delegation of the right to vote, the right to participate in the meeting of the statutory bodies and the right to participate in the monitoring activities of the Assembly. In addition, in July 2015 the PACE took a majority of votes Resolution , condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The document states that the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE condemned “unilateral and unwarranted encroachment on the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity” on the part of Russia.

In January this year, the head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Pushkov, PACE advised to temporarily forget about Russia and Ukraine and to address the issues of refugees. The official noted that the adequacy of estimates in the Assembly remains at the same level as it was before.