NY Conference Organizers Regret Russia’s Absence Due to Visa Restrictions

The Inter-Parliamentary Union has regretted the Russian delegation's absence at the IPU conference to be held in New York.

UNITED NATIONS- Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong expressed his regret Friday over the fact that the Russian delegation, which was supposed to be headed by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, would be absent at the IPU conference in New York.

Matvienko was invited to attend the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament which is scheduled to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from August 31 to September 2. However, US entry visa restrictions made the attendance of the speaker impossible.

“Of course, we regret this fact, because we think that this is a forum where all members of Parliament, true to the nature of democracy, could exercise their freedom of expression and bring to the floor what the issues are,” Chungong said.

According to the statement of the IPU chief, Matvienko confirmed that she would be attending the next IPU assembly in Geneva in October. Chungong said that he does not anticipate any problems regarding her participation in the next assembly and the IPU “looks forward to it.”

In 2014, Matvienko was added to the US sanctions list, which imposed travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Russian officials over the conflict in Ukraine.