Working Visit to Stockholm

September 6. The Chairman of the Council of Federation, the Chairman of the Political Party A Just Russia: Fatherland/Pensioners/Life Sergei Mironov has completed the working visit to Stockholm.

Within the visit on Septmber 5-6 Sergei Mironov took part in the III session of the Socialist International Commission for a Sustainable World Society at the headquarters of Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP). The previous session took place in Santiago, Chili, in March 2008, the first one – in London in November 2007.

The meeting was opened with the working dinner for the Commission members that was attended by the Secretary General Luis Ayala and the leader of SAP Mona Salin.

The session was held under the chairmanship of the Commission co-chairmen Ricardo Lagos, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Chili’s ex-president, and Goran Persson, the former leader of SAP and Swedish prime-minister.

Sergei Mironov took part in the discussion together with other members of the Commission: Cristina Narbona, the representative of Spain to OCSE and the former Spanish Minister of Environment, Mohamed El Yazghi, Minister of State of Morocco, The Belgian state Minister Elio Di Rupo, and ex-president of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski.

The main questions discussed were the policy in the sphere of technology transfer from developed to developing countires aimed at the effective solution of the environmental protection and ecological problems, and preparing the future Commission report for the UN session in New York September of 2009

Speaking at the session of the Commission Sergei Mironov paid special attention to necessary consolidation effort undertaken by different countries to solve the problems of climate change that all the humanity faced today. He suggested that a special organization should be organized under the aegis of UNO (on the model of MAGATE) for dealing with the questions of climate change and environmental protection.

The Commission accepted the statement that included the suggestions of the Russian Council of Federation’s Speaker, and approved the structure of the future report. There was also agreed the Commission’s Policy Plan that involved series of seminars in South Africa on November 24-25 and later in February 2009 in China and in April-May 2009 in Washington, USA. The nest Session of the Commission is to be held in India in March 2009.

On September 6 Sergei Mironov took part in the International Conference Our Climate – Investment to Future that was held under the aegis of SAP and Swedish Municipal Workers' Union. He spoke on the cooperation of different counries in the sphere of climate change and presented the position of Russia in this question. Representatives from USA, India, Australia, Sweden, Chili and many other states took part in the conference.

The Chairman of the Council of Federation also had several meeting with Swedish journalists and politicians. Sergei Mironov explained to them the position of Russia in the question of official recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He was interweid by the Swedish TV Channe SVT1, the leading national radio and newspapers.

Sergei Mironov had the bilateral talks with the SAP leader Mona Salin. He invited his colleague to visit Russia any time. She accepted the invitation gracefully.

The Chairman of the Council of Federation also handed on the videos showing as the Georgian forces were bombing the city of Tshinval to the member of European Parliament from Sweden Osa Vestlund.