Duma Chairman Naryshkin may visit PACE no earlier than fall - Russian delegation
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Russian State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin is not planning to attend a Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) session within the coming months, says Leonid Slutsky, a deputy head of the Russian delegation to PACE.
"No decisions have yet been made on this account," Slutsky told Interfax on Tuesday in commenting on media reports alleging that Naryshkin is being expected in Strasbourg and may travel there in the near future.
If such a visit takes place, this may happen no sooner than fall, he said.
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon had sent an invitation to Naryshkin in September 2012 to attend the assembly's fall session taking place in early October. Naryshkin, however, declined the proposal, arguing that the atmosphere in the assembly was not favorable for such a visit at the time, as a significant number of PACE members had a negative attitude toward the Russian delegation's position and initiatives.
"I was pleased earlier to accept the proposal to take part in a PACE session and was planning to speak about such major problems in our relations with Europe as the development of parliamentary systems in Europe and the construction of Europe without dividing lines. However, the latest events have shown that my strategic proposals are unlikely to be heard at PACE today, because some PACE leaders and Russophobic parliamentarians obviously have different desires," Naryshkin told Interfax at the time.
Nevertheless, Mignon said in October 2012 that his invitation remained on the table.
The next PACE session is scheduled for the end of April.