MINSK, 29 March (BelTA) - The 30th anniversary of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States is a truly landmark date in the development of interstate cooperation and parliamentarism, Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova said during a solemn meeting of the IPA CIS Council in Almaty, BelTA has learned.
"I would like to use this opportunity and cordially congratulate everyone on our common anniversary - the 30th anniversary of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This is a truly landmark date in the development of interstate cooperation and parliamentarism," Natalya Kochanova said. “First of all, I would like to sincerely thank Chairwoman of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Valentina Matviyenko and the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the excellent organization of this event. It was a great idea to get together in such a symbolic place as the House of Friendship where the Almaty Declaration and the CIS Assembly Agreement were signed in 1992.”
The speaker stressed that it is still painful to remember how then, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, each of the countries was left alone and millions of people who lost their beloved Motherland were in a state of confusion and despair, experiencing these events as a personal tragedy. "As life has shown, it was the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. It is only thanks to the wise decision of the leaders of the former Soviet republics to launch the unification processes that we did not to break away from each other, preserved the spiritual kinship and, most importantly, a chance at the future," she said.
"The Commonwealth of Independent States and its parliamentary dimension - the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly - have assumed an important civilizational mission: to consolidate the peoples of the post-Soviet space by unity of will, unity of thought and unshakable moral and political unity. We understand each other not only with the mind but also with the heart and it is the cornerstone of our multifaceted long-term cooperation. As the Belarusian president rightly noted: only by combining efforts and increasing the role of the CIS as a regional player will we be able to successfully confront all challenges and threats," Natalya Kochanova added.
