Speaker of the Russian Upper House and Chairman of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Sergei Mironov opened here on Thursday the 27th plenary meeting of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, devoted to the fifteenth anniversary of the Commonwealth. It is being held in the Tavrichesky Palace of St. Petersburg.

“We highly appreciate the decision of the CIS Heads of State Council to declare 2006 a year of the Commonwealth, which confirms the view that it is a fundamental factor of stable and progressive socio-economic development of our countries, testifies to the importance of our integrated association in the contemporary conditions,” Mironov stated. “The CIS members had to tackle two global tasks in a brief period of time: establishment of statehood and market reforms,” he stressed.

“Today, the Commonwealth of Independent States is at a new stage of its development. Our countries have overcome the crisis and their high rates of economic development show that the Commonwealth is achieving remarkable results in the efforts to establish a zone of free trade, to coordinate their fight against organised crime, against the aggression of narcotics and terrorism, to promote different forms of humanitarian cooperation,” the Speaker of the Russian Upper House believes.

However, he noted that there were still several problems and contradictions within the Commonwealth and their settlement was necessary to turn the CIS into a fully-fledged organisation of interstate cooperation.

“The CIS Heads of State Council is working hard on the perfection and reform of the Commonwealth of Independent States and, irrespective of versions, great hopes are being pinned on the Interparliamentary Assembly as a stably working organisation,” Mironov stressed.

He hopes the upcoming deliberations will help elaborate a common view on the results and prospects of the Commonwealth. “Russia’s stand on this problem was repeatedly explained by our president: Russia: the priority of Russia’s foreign policy is to promote its relations with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Mironov stressed.

News source: www.itar-tass.com
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