Russia has been granted observer status at the Interparliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA), which brings together representatives of the legislatures of 35 countries in Central, South and North America, Mikhail Margelov, head of the committee on international affairs of the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament, who took part in the FIPA”s 6th session in Ottawa, has told Itar-Tass.
“A dialogue with parliamentarians is exceptionally important,” Margelov emphasized. “We still have got time to build bridges in relations with the political elite of this region, primarily, Latin America, before other countries fill the vacant seats of partners for Latin American politicians”.
Margelov pointed out that he was the only representative from Russia at the present session of the FIPA while eight Chinese representatives took part in the forum proceedings.
“Our Asian partners look at Latin America, and the Caribbean region precisely from the viewpoint of development of economic contacts,” he added. “To us, the participation in the FIPA session opens up an opportunity to establish contacts with those parliamentary reprsentatives of Latin American countries who will be making important-to-us decisions on matters concerning energy resources, military-technical cooperation, as well as other sectors that are of interest to us”.
