MOSCOW, March 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Speaker of the State Duma, lower house of Russia’s parliament, Sergei Naryshkin said on Wednesday the house’s Council would debate a package of legislative acts on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia on March 20.
At present, the Russian Constitutional Court is considering whether the interstate treaty brings is in line with the Russian Constitution. “I don’t doubt the Constitutional Court will take a positive decision. This will allow the Russian president to submit two historical legislative acts to the State Duma,” Naryshkin said.
“The interstate treaty signed on March 18 and a draft federal constitutional law will be submitted to ratification. We expect the documents to be submitted today,” the speaker said.
“We’re ready to discuss and approve these laws within the shortest period of time in full compliance with the norms of international law and the Duma regulations. We’ll do it till the end of the week,” he said.
The final date will depend on when the documents are submitted by the Russian president. Naryshkin did not rule out that this would be done on Thursday, March 20. “At any moment we can convene an additional plenary session,” the speaker said.
“We can ratify the interstate treaty at once. The draft federal constitutional law can be approved in the first reading. No restrictions will be,” he said.
Earlier, at the meeting with the Crimean delegation, Naryshkin said President Vladimir Putin had submitted the interstate treaty and the draft constitutional law to the State Duma. “We expect that the Constitutional Court will debate and take a positive decision,” Naryshkin said.
“I’d like to assure everyone that State Duma deputies will approve the historical legislative acts,” the Duma speaker said.
On Tuesday, March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the draft treaty on Crimea's reunification with Russia and the formation of new subjects as part of the Russian Federation. He also notified both chambers of the Russian parliament on the proposals by Crimea's Supreme Council and the legislative assembly of Sevastopol on their accession to the Russian Federation.
On Monday, March 17, the Crimean parliament, which declared Crimea an independent state, authorized Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov and parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov to sign an interstate treaty with the Russian Federation on the admission of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which has a special status, into the Russian Federation.