Russian senators refuse to go to Norway over Bochkaryov detention - Kosachyov
MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Russian senators are canceling their plans to visit Norway over the earlier detention of Russian citizen Mikhail Bochkaryov, Konstantin Kosachyov, the chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
"At this stage yes," Kosachyov told Interfax when asked whether senators will refuse to go to Norway over the recent incident involving Federation Council administration employee Mikhail Bochkaryov.
Senator Igor Fomin is scheduled to visit Oslo on November 11-14 to attend a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.
Kosachyov said that the Federation Council has already declined to participate in two parliamentary events in Norway.
"In the future we will make decisions based on the reaction of the Norwegian parliament to the provocation against Bochkaryov, which ended in a total fiasco," the senator said.
Bochkaryov was detained at the Oslo Airport on September 21. According to Western media reports, he was suspected of illegal intelligence activities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said he was visiting Norway at the invitation of the European Center of Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) to take part in an international seminar hosted by the Norwegian parliament on September 20-21.
It was reported on October 19 that Bochkaryov had been released. He returned to Russia on October 20.