The Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee held its 16th session on 15-16 January 2014 in Strasbourg. A representative delegation of members of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation headed by Mr. Sergey Zheleznyak, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, participated in the event.
Discussions at the session co-chaired by Mr. Sergey Zheleznyak and Mr. Knut Fleckenstein (political group “Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats”, European Parliament) summed up the results of parliamentary contacts in 2013, including three meetings of PCC Working Groups: on Eurasian integration perspectives, as well as on visa liberalisation (29-30 April, Kaliningrad), and on energy cooperation and climate change (29-30 October, Moscow). The discussion also touched upon the issues of multiculturalism and situation of media in the EU and in Russia.
Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU, briefed PCC members on the preparations for the upcoming Russia-EU summit in Brussels on 28 January 2014.
A Statement of PCC Co-Chairs on inadmissibility of crimes against ethnic and confessional minorities in Syria including Christians was adopted as a result of the Committee session.
The next meeting of the PCC Working Group is scheduled for March 2014 in Perm, Russian Federation.
