The South Ossetian Parliament hosted a meeting with the Russian parliamentary delegation headed by the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev.
During the talks, Konstantin Kosachev expressed hope for the resumption of the work of the South Ossetian Parliament.
“Our parliamentary relations were hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, and well-known events were superimposed on this here, in the Republic. The autumn session of last year was completely missed, let's see what will happen with the spring session, we look forward to the resumption of the parliament's work. We consider it extremely important to make every effort on both sides to resume our parliamentary cooperation in full,” Kovatchev said.
He has noted that the Russian delegation in South Ossetia is aimed at serious work.
“We came as a serious delegation; everyone is closely involved in the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation between South Ossetia and Russia. We are committed to serious, professional work here. Our contacts are built on the basis of relevant agreements. I took with me the agreement, which was signed back in October 2008. And the articles in this agreement clearly reveal the meaning of our cooperation. This is the strengthening of mutually beneficial economic ties, ensuring the observance of human rights, expanding contacts in the field of culture, education and other areas of humanitarian cooperation. That is, everything that is important to people,” Kosachev stressed.
According to Kosachev, the second article of this agreement is the task of harmonizing the legislation of the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation, and this work cannot be done by anyone except parliamentarians.
“Harmonization of legislation is an essential element of our bilateral relations. To develop our relations, a commission on inter-parliamentary cooperation was created. It was working as efficiently as possible in previous years. The last meeting was held in November 2019. There is a very detailed minutes of this meeting, where a detailed work plan for 2020 is clearly defined.
Most of this plan has remained unfulfilled so far, and in fact this is the program of our actions for the future. We don't need to invent something new; we just need to sit down and work. We are ready for this, and the basic purpose of our visit is to make sure that our colleagues in the Parliament of South Ossetia are equally ready for this. The disagreements that exist in the Parliament between various political forces should not rise above the interests of the respective countries and peoples,” he added.
He also noted that the Russian delegation would like to exchange views with the South Ossetian colleagues and, if possible, agree on a specific timetable for moving forward.
“This requires the resumption of normal work of the RSO Parliament. This most important instrument of bilateral cooperation must be fully used, otherwise slipping is inevitable, with all the ensuing consequences for the entire huge array of already developed solutions to our bilateral relations, and an even larger volume of decisions that have yet to be made, achieved, developed and implemented”, he remarked.
Peter Gassiev has expressed his gratitude to the Russian delegation for their arrival and desire to help, noting that this is a vivid example of our fraternal friendly relations.
“We pin great hopes on your visit, both within the framework of the work of the inter-parliamentary commission, and in understanding the current situation. I am sure that after your visit the Parliament will establish normal full-fledged work here,” Gassiev said.
Konstantin Kosachev has also noted that there are federal laws in the South Ossetian direction that need to be worked out.
“We have federal laws on the ratification of the agreement with South Ossetia, and a law concerning the recognition of the disability of persons dismissed from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia. We are planning to ratify this agreement; we have a step-by-step action plan. We are ready to see this agreement as ratified by both parties, or it will already have direct consequences for those people whose fate is affected by this agreement. This is another specific example that we must work through together,” he stressed.
