On Wednesday, February 22, the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
held a meeting with the Speaker
of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić. The delegation is
paying a working visit to Russia.
Countering the US hegemony
The Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska told his Russian counterpart that there was a great pressure from the countries of the European Union and the United States of America before the visit to Russia.
“We are all under constant pressure, we receive threats because of our position on the issues of cooperation with the Russian Federation,” he said and added that NATO and the EU were constantly trying to “break the fiscal and financial system” of Republika. Opposition non-governmental organizations and the media are also financed by foreign countries.
Nenad Stevandić assured that he and his colleagues consistently upheld a friendly attitude towards Russia. That is also the position of the head of state.
“We are a nation that does not trade its dignity,” emphasized the Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. “We still want to be Russia's friends with our heads held high,” he added.
“Russia stands for a just world order, a multipolar world. And those states that want to maintain their hegemony, of course, do not support this approach, doing everything to maintain their monopoly,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
The Chairman of the State Duma emphasized that “each nation should have its own path, its own opportunities to plan the future, realize its potential.”
“Every state should have the right to be sovereign. We are defending our sovereignty, we are defending the security of our country, and we have done everything possible within the framework of the dialogue with Washington and other countries to defend it by political means,” he said.
Vyacheslav Volodin recalled the results of the US policy in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and the current situation in Ukraine, where the Nazis came to power after a coup.
Nenad Stevandić noted the role of Russia in countering Nazism. “Our nations are mostly linked by the resistance to the Nazis. We are the nations keeping the memory,” he said.
Bilateral cooperation
“Relations between Russia and Republika Srpska are developing with a help of active position and interaction of our presidents. Therefore, within the framework of the parliamentary dimension, we need to follow that dynamic of relations,” emphasized Vyacheslav Volodin.
According to him, the parliamentarians should provide legislative support to the decisions taken by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Milorad Dodik, as the citizens of the two countries are waiting for that.
During the meeting, Vyacheslav Volodin and Nenad Stevandić discussed enhancement of cooperation between Russia and Republika Srpska in various areas, including economic and trade.
“We support the development of cooperation in all areas of our relations and in this regard we propose to consider new formats,” suggested Vyacheslav Volodin and added that a high-level inter-parliamentary commission could be created between the State Duma and the National Assembly, and there could be signed an agreement on cooperation.
Nenad Stevandić supported the proposal. He also accepted the invitation of Vyacheslav Volodin to visit Russia again.
“Despite the challenges and problems, we should work even more effectively. And in this regard, we should express gratitude to our comrades, friends from the National Assembly, the people of Republika Srpska for their position and attitude. It was not easy for them to come,” stressed Vyacheslav Volodin and recalled that it was the first foreign visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
He also noted the trade growth by 57% over the past year. “We understand the difficult conditions in which our relations are developing. There is huge pressure from Washington on Republika Srpska, on those people pursuing policies in the interests of their citizens. Those who bombed Belgrade and try to turn the whole world into a colony of one country do not like that. We cannot let this happen,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
