French, Russian MPs call for holding Grand Interparliamentary Committee in 2019
MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - Russian and French parliamentarians have called for holding the Russian-French Grand Interparliamentary Committee, which has not been convened for five years, in 2019.
MPs expressed this opinion at a meeting of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, on Thursday.
Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the lower house of French parliament, led by its chairman, are visiting Moscow.
"We have not held meetings of the Grand Committee since 2014. And I am confident that this year, relations between the National Assembly and the State Duma have ripened sufficiently for holding a full-fledged meeting of the Grand Committee at any time convenient for President of the French National Assembly Mr. Ferrand [Richard Ferrand], and our French friends. [...] We are waiting for this, and we are ready to suggest a constructive agenda," State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky said during a meeting with his French counterparts.
Chairwoman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee Marielle de Sarnez, in turn, backed the need for resuming the work of the Grand Committee this year.
"As regards the Grand Committee, we support it and even stand ready to set the date. It is necessary to find an appropriate date. It will be very good if this happens this year," de Sarnez said.
Interparliamentary dialogue is very important. It should be frank, open, "speedy and rapid," she said.