All news

Lawmaker believes OSCE PA tired of anti-Russian rhetoric

A Russian lawmaker says "representatives of a number of delegations said it is difficult to imagine the OSCE without Russia"

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) is tired of anti-Russian rhetoric, Leonid Slutsky, head of Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) International Affairs Committee, told a news conference on Monday.

"The Assembly is tired of anti-Russian rhetoric. Representatives of a number of delegations said it is difficult to imagine the OSCE without Russia," said Slutky who took part in the OSCE PA winter session in Vienna as a member of the Russian delegation. He noted that the Russian delegation was urged to seek common ground and hold "joint meetings in any format."

The Russian parliamentarian noted, however, that this does not mean that "they have shifted gears," and relations would change overnight. "However, the contacts were constructive as never before and with a human face," he added.

The OSCE should become a genuine European security and cooperation organization and stop dancing to the overseas tune.

"It is good that when key issues were raised by speakers (at the session), the need for the OSCE to become a European security and cooperation organization and stop dancing to the overseas tune was voiced," noted Slutsky who was a member of the Russian delegation to the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held in Austria’s capital of Vienna. "Being a pan-Atlantic organization, it should stop dancing to one country’s tune and quit acting upon instructions received from overseas," Slutsky stressed.

According to him, "there is a need to assess the ways to ensure cooperation and security in Europe." "It is indeed a strategic task. And it is our generation of politicians that should build the future architecture of Europe. The OSCE could play a very important role in it," the Russian senior lawmaker noted.

Slutsky also said that the OSCE PA was an effective platform for advancing Russia’s foreign policy as far as parliamentary activities were concerned.