Valentina Matvienko. Photo: council.gov.ru
Dozens of delegates walked out in protest whilst Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, spoke at the World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments in Geneva.
Source: video published by Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), as reported by European Pravda
Details: In the video shared by Kondratiuk, several dozen delegates from various national delegations can be seen exiting the hall as Matvienko began her speech.
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Quote from Kondratiuk: “I am proud of all our partners and colleagues! This is a demarche against the aggressor – this is support for the people of Ukraine!”
It remains unclear which countries’ representatives took part in the walkout or who stayed in the chamber.
Background:
- Prior to the conference,the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) called on its partners to boycott events involving the Russian delegation led by Valentina Matviyenko at the international conference in Geneva.
- Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said that Matvienko’s place is “in the dock, not at international conferences“, and that her admission to Geneva “is disgraceful and should never have happened”.
- The World Conference of Speakers of Parliament meets once every five years. This is the first such event since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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