A Russian delegation led by the Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko arrived in Switzerland to participate in the sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments and other events of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
This is reported by the Russian service of Radio Liberty.
Matvienko will speak at a conference in Geneva as part of the discussion "A World in Turmoil: Parliamentary Cooperation and a Multilateral Approach to Solving Problems for Peace, Justice, and Prosperity for Everyone," and will also participate in the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliaments.
In addition to Matvienko herself, the delegation included Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachov, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Committee on International Affairs Andrey Denisov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Petro Tolstoy, Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs and Chairman of the LDPR Leonid Slutsky, and others.
A number of members of this delegation have been placed on sanctions lists by Western countries in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and openly support the war.
Switzerland has joined the EU sanctions against Russia, and Matvienko is on the sanctions list. However, the country does not restrict entry to its territory for participants in the activities of international organizations headquartered in Switzerland.
Ukrainians in Switzerland were outraged by the arrival of the Russian delegation and the lack of reaction from official Geneva. They went on a picket outside the UN building.
Babel managed to talk to one of the picket participants — a Swiss citizen of Ukrainian origin named Slavko.
"There is a person who is responsible for the aggression against Ukraine. This person is under sanctions from Switzerland. And he is invited to talk about peace. This is incomprehensible to me," he says.
The man emphasizes that Switzerland should adhere to the sanctions that the country itself supported. He also emphasized that the Swiss authorities should take responsibility for the arrival of the Russian delegation to Geneva.
Another participant in the action, Ukrainian Oleh Kyselevsky, noted that for now they have taken out a small picket because they have not yet received permission from the local authorities for a large rally. However, they are planning a larger protest on July 30.
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