01/10/2013 Session
The Speaker of the Russian State Duma Sergey Naryshkin, addressing the Assembly today, made a plea for greater parliamentarianism in international affairs and stressed the important role of parliamentarians and the important role played by the Parliamentary Assembly.
He said that Russia looks to European experience, for example in Parliamentary democracy, which is becoming ever more important as new technologies allow for greater involvement of citizens and offer real potential to grow democracy.
Mr Naryshkin also outlined the reasoning of Russian lawmakers when adopting recent legislation that prompted international concerns, such as the laws on meetings and demonstrations, on foreign funding of NGOs, or on protecting children from propaganda negating traditional family relations.