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The online meeting of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Political Affairs and International Cooperation was held in Saint Petersburg.

On March 18, the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Eduard Aghajanyan in the distance format took part in the work of the meeting and delivered a speech on Results of the Coordination Meeting of Heads of the Parliamentary Delegations of the CSTO Member States to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (February 18, via videoconference) and on the Results of the Work of the Parliamentary Delegations of the CSTO Member States (24-25 February 2022, Vienna) of the 21^st Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Eduard Aghajanyan noted:

“Dear colleagues,

The coordination meeting of heads of the parliamentary delegations of the CSTO Member States to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held on February 18 via videoconference on behalf of me – the chairmanship of the Republic of Armenia.

The representatives of the Secretariats of Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, as well as the CSTO PA took part in the online meeting.

In connection with the goals of the working meeting I underlined the importance of the coordination of the joint positions on the international policy and security modern issues, the mutual aid, taking into consideration the interests and the obligations of the coordinating CSTO states. In this context I would like to mention the equal cooperation of the CSTO member states in the OSCE international format, the revision of the united constructive position on certain issues of the OSCE PA meetings and the possible collective decisions.

During the meeting the participants discussed the coordination issues of the actions on the foreign platforms of the parliamentary delegations of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the issues of the OSCE PA 21^st Winter Meeting held on 24-25 February 2022, exchanged ideas on the initiatives, which they intend to propose to the delegations of the parliaments of the CSTO member states. We listened to the speech of the RF Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin.

In his speech on coordinating the activities of the CSTO member states on the international platforms the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia touched upon the efficiency of the flexible mechanisms of the parliamentary diplomacy.

The Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Head of the delegation of RF Federal Assembly to OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petr Tolstoy presented his observations on the themes of the forthcoming session.

The member of the Standing Commission on Industry, Fuel-Energy Complex, Transport and Communication of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Denis Karas noted the necessity of continuing the work on proposing the additional draft resolution on the OSCE PA – the theme Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents, which was announced in 2021.

On 24-25 February 2022 the Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held in Vienna. The meetings of the Standing Commission and the OSCE PA three General Committees, as well as disputes on the theme The Security Guarantees and the Indivisible Security in Europe: The Role of the OSCE were included in the agenda. The OSCE high ranking officials, including the OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Poland Zbigniew Rau, the OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt, the Speaker of Parliament of Austria Wolfgang Sobotka addressed the parliamentarians.

During the meetings the themes The Security Guarantees and the Principle of Security in Europe: The Role of the OSCE, the Heightened Tension in the OSCE Region and the Need for the Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue, The Human Trafficking in the Conditions of the Economic Activity Globalisation, The Role of Journalism in Ensuring Justice and Rule of Law were debated.

At the OSCE PA Standing Committee Meeting the participants exchanged opinions on the situation in Ukraine.

Thanks for your attention.”