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Session of Russian-Italian interpaliamentary commission to be held on March 5 — source

The delegates will discuss a wide range of bilateral agenda issues

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Measures to stabilize the situation in crisis regions, cooperation at international venues and prospects of bilateral cooperation will be in the focus of the 16th session of the Russian-Italian interparliamentary commission, which will be held in Moscow on March 5, a source in the State Duma told TASS on Tuesday.

"State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and his counterpart President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy Roberto Fico will carry out the session," the source said.

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The agenda stipulates the discussion of a wide range of issues, on each of which reporters from both the Russian and Italian side will speak, he said.

In particular, there are plans to discuss "what parliamentary members can do for stabilization in crisis regions, in particular in the Mediterranean and the Middle East," as well as the situation on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), the official noted. "There are also plans to dwell on relations between Russia and the European Union and study the prospects of interparliamentary dialogue and cooperation at international venues," he went on.

The session will discuss "the whole range of issues on the bilateral agenda - from the sphere of culture down to the media and tourism," the official said. Issues of economic cooperation will be discussed through the prism of global rivalry and the need to develop digital economy, he concluded.

The previous session of the commission took place in October 2016 in Rome. Then a joint communique was adopted which highlighted the need to bolster bilateral cooperation in various areas - culture, education, tourism, space and the scientific-technical sphere. The sides agreed to establish working commissions for sharing legislative experience and obliged to inform through the media on the activity of the commission, which was convened after a two-year break. The MPs also agreed to support the development of the ties between the two countries’ municipalities, in particular to help establish twin-city relations between Italian and Russian cities.

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