During the speech of the head of the Russian delegation, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Development of Civil Society Olga Timofeeva, members of the Ukrainian delegation stood behind her and unfurled their flags
Members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at the summit of speakers of the countries participating in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) held in Ankara staged a provocation to disrupt the speech of the head of the Russian delegation, but the speaker of the Turkish parliament, Mustafa Sentop, who chaired the meeting, stopped it. The summit and the 61st PABSEC General Assembly are being held on May 4-5 in the capital of Turkey.
During the speech of the head of the Russian delegation, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Development of Civil Society Olga Timofeeva, members of the Ukrainian delegation stood behind her and unfurled their flags, shouting offensive slogans. Shentop immediately intervened in the situation.
– Colleagues, this cannot be done, no, no, in no case! No, I won’t allow it! In our program, only performances. I announce a break. Those who interfere with our meeting will be taken out of the hall. You can’t behave like that! This must not be allowed here! Get out of here! This is no place for stocks! – the speaker of the Turkish parliament called out.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Nikolai Novichkov, who represented the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia at the meeting, told Russian journalists that he stood up for Timofeeva.
– I took an active part in the physical protection of the head of the delegation during the attack of the Ukrofascists. I say with all responsibility that there was a threat to the safety of the head of the delegation. Some of the youngsters had to take over. All these people are from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” the parliamentarian said.
As a result, the brawlers managed to be appeased and escorted out of the hall.
“It was more like a circus,” Timofeeva added. – Today, the main task of the representatives of the Kyiv regime is to make scandals, take pictures against this background and post selfies on social networks. All these provocations are planned and orchestrated by them, but they will not be able to silence us. We called on the summit participants to constructive solutions to a number of various problems that we face and not to succumb to this clowning into which the Ukrainian delegations are trying to turn any international platform.
She said that over the past two years, they have been trying to remove the Russian delegation to the PABSEC from participating in the summits of the organization, not to confirm its authority:
– The Duma is re-elected, new members of the delegation appear, and their powers must be formally agreed upon. But some people are trying to turn the economic platform into a political one. And we have a different task: not to politicize the process, which Ukraine tried to do today, but to express its point of view.
Timofeeva recalled that 30 years ago, Russia and Turkey stood at the origins of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, and today representatives of unfriendly countries, some of which do not even have access to the Black Sea, question our country’s place in the PABSEC.
– My friends, you probably forgot that once, in the X-XIV centuries, the Black Sea was called Russian, and no one will take it away from us, – she says. – Today we called on all delegations and all countries to once again rethink the role of the PABSEC. There is no doubt that this organization is in deep crisis. We face tough challenges, and we must cooperate in the economy, energy, and climate issues. We told you that Russia has completed a parliamentary investigation into US biological laboratories in a number of countries where pathogens are grown, and today it has already been proven that this poses a serious threat. We appealed to parliaments with a call to control those biolaboratories that are located in their countries.
Last December, Russia announced the termination of payment of contributions to the BSEC due to the refusal of its assembly to approve the powers of the Russian delegation.
– If, in violation of the regulations, they indicate to us that one of our deputies is not liked by someone, then we reserve the right to decide whether we need this site, because we do not see a constructive conversation. We are striving to make Russia’s voice heard, we are not falling for provocations and we want to move on with the methods of parliamentary democracy. As our president said, Russia is not going to isolate itself, we will continue parliamentary cooperation, but only where there are partner, sensible, sober relations. Recently, representatives of all African countries came to us at the Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference – more than before the pandemic, Timofeeva added.
Unfortunately, the incident with Kyiv’s hooligan demarche was not the only one at the PABSEC event. In the corridor of the Marriott Hotel, where the summit was held, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, who fell into a rage, attacked the secretary of the Russian delegation, Valery Stavitsky. The victim is given the necessary assistance.
At the PABSEC General Assembly in Ankara, the powers of the Russian delegation were again not approved, and now the question of the prospects for Russia’s further presence in this organization will be considered by the State Duma.
