OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva listens during his meeting with Duma Chairperson Sergey Naryshkin in Moscow, 17 July 2015. (photo courtesy of the Russian State Duma)COPENHAGEN, 17 July 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) met today in Moscow with Russian State Duma Chairperson and Head of the Russian Delegation to the OSCE PA Sergey Naryshkin for talks that focused on the Assembly’s recent Annual Session, Russia’s participation in the Assembly’s work and developments in and around Ukraine.
Alexey Pushkov, the Chairperson of the Duma’s International Affairs Committee, and Leonid Slutsky, the Chairperson of the Duma’s CIS Affairs and Eurasian Integration Committee, both of whom are members of the Russian Delegation to the OSCE PA, also participated in the meeting.
President Kanerva shared with the Chairpersons the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, the final document approved by the Assembly at its Annual Session, which concluded on 9 July in the Finnish capital. The Declaration contains the Assembly’s wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements for the OSCE and its 57 participating States in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment and human rights.
The sides discussed Russia’s choice to not send a delegation to the Annual Session following the decision of the government of Finland to enforce European Union visa bans against Chairperson Naryshkin and several other Russian parliamentarians who had registered to participate.
Following the meeting President Kanerva said:
“The absence of Chairperson Naryshkin and our other Russian colleagues from the Annual Session was regrettable, and obviously a sign of the critical moment we face in the OSCE security architecture. We value the important contribution of the Russian Delegation to the OSCE PA and look forward to their participation in future meetings, particularly as we try to support a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in and around Ukraine.
“Let me underscore, however, that our Assembly’s recommendations and pronouncements were approved almost unanimously at the conclusion of our Annual Session. OSCE parliamentarians expressed grave concern about Russia’s actions in and around Ukraine and the effect of those actions on the very foundation of the OSCE. I have expressed my hope to Chairperson Naryshkin that he and the rest of the Russian Delegation will consider the Helsinki Declaration carefully as we move forward.”
President Kanerva welcomed Chairperson Naryshkin’s confirmation that the Russian Delegation will participate in full at the OSCE PA’s Autumn Meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on 15-18 September.
In discussions on Ukraine, the sides reaffirmed that strict implementation of the Minsk agreements by all parties is the only viable way to resolve the crisis.
While in Moscow, President Kanerva also marked the one-year anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. He underscored the need for a thorough accounting of the facts, accountability for the perpetrators, and the full support of the international community for the process.
“Today, one year since the flight MH17 tragedy, I honor the memory of the 298 innocent people whose lives were taken. On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I renew my condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to their countries. The best way we can pay tribute to all of those affected is to ensure that justice is done here, free from politics,” President Kanerva said.
