What did CIS parliamentarians discuss in St. Petersburg?

Belarus advocates for security and cooperation between regions. The CIS Interparliamentary Assembly is currently taking place in St. Petersburg. Delegations headed by the speakers of the upper chambers have gathered here to compare notes on cooperation and interaction in the international arena. The focus is on patriotic education, the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Interparliamentary Assembly is the main platform for interaction between CIS parliamentarians. And the Belarusian delegation had a busy day today. The work was carried out at several sites at once and started with discussions in the standing committees.

The topics included electoral sovereignty, the formation of a multipolar world, youth policy to preserve historical memory and countering external challenges.

Sergei Aleinik, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, said that three issues will also be discussed that concern requests from parliamentary international structures to obtain observer status at the IPA CIS. Such requests were submitted by the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Central American Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

"This indicates that there is a demand for a broader inter-parliamentary dialogue between the parliaments of many countries of the world. Of course, we are interested in developing and strengthening this dialogue. Belarus is actively working with regional inter-parliamentary structures," Sergei Aleinik added.

"This is an opportunity to discuss the integration projects that we are already implementing with our fellow parliamentarians, and have been implementing for many years. In 2025, Belarus plans to hold the anniversary "Train of Memory", which will be dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. And we have an ambitious idea to unite representatives of young people from all 15 former Soviet republics in a project. This would be symbolic and significant,  said Sergei Sivets, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus.

The Assembly is also a good platform for holding bilateral meetings. Thus, the speakers of the upper houses of Belarus and Russia noted the high level of integration within the framework of the Union State. In December, it will be 25 years old.

The CIS IPA Council elected its Chairperson today. Valentina Matviyenko’s candidacy was unanimously supported. The parliamentarians supported the joint statement on the 80th anniversary of the victory. Another of the two dozen issues is monitoring the presidential elections in our country. The parliamentarians from the CIS IPA received an invitation.