“The European Parliament needs to resume direct contacts with Russian senators”, – Member of the European Parliament Milan Uhrík says

The European Parliament will call for dialogue with Moscow at the level of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

This statement was made by Slovakian MEP Milan Uhrík.

In particular, he described the current approach in the European Parliament, where the European Union communicates exclusively with opposition figures rather than with the elected representatives of the Russian people, as unconstructive.

“Together with my Bulgarian colleague from the ‘Europe of Sovereign Nations’ parliamentary group, Stanislav Stoyanov, we intend to challenge this unconstructive approach of the committee and will request the restoration of serious contacts with official representatives of Russia. If the committee does not agree, we will do so ourselves within the framework of our political mandate, because this is our job — to establish partnerships and find solutions,” Uhrík emphasized.

Despite the fact that the European Parliament recently passed a resolution calling for allowing Kyiv to strike deep into Russian territory, the leaders of several countries are increasingly talking about the need for negotiations with Moscow regarding Ukraine.

It’s worth noting that the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee was established under Article 95 of the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, signed in 1994. Representatives from the upper house of the Russian Parliament participated on the Russian side, and members of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Russia participated on the EU side.

Committee meetings were held twice a year, alternately in Brussels or Strasbourg and in Moscow. The politicians discussed a wide range of issues in bilateral relations, including the energy dialogue, human rights, and various cooperation “roadmaps” with EU member states. However, starting in the spring of 2014, the European Parliament unilaterally suspended all official contacts with the Russian side.

Nevertheless, since 2015, informal annual meetings with European Parliament members have been held in Belgrade. However, these were also interrupted in 2019 due to the COVID pandemic. Finally, in 2021, the European Parliament approved a report on EU-Russia relations, which called for freezing dialogue with Russia.

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, confirmed that all relations, both official and unofficial, with the European Parliament are currently terminated. The senator emphasized that “the ball is in the court of the European deputies,” while Russia, for its part, is open to resuming dialogue.

“This is a sensible idea. Of course, contacts are needed, especially between parliamentarians. Parliamentarians always have more freedom of action than representatives of the executive branch. We have not severed ties with anyone, and if European deputies are ready to interact with us, it will be welcomed. We are always open to negotiations,” the politician stressed.

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, calls for peace are being heard more frequently in Europe. Among other EU leaders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stands out in this regard, having met with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, China, the United States, and Turkey in turn to discuss the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Following his mission, Viktor Orban presented his peace plan to all EU leaders.

On September 13, the Hungarian Prime Minister stated on Kossuth Radio that his peace mission “launched huge discussions in Europe.” “It turned out that more and more EU countries would be willing to join the peace camp, such as Germany,” Orban noted.

According to media reports, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also preparing a plan for the peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron has also spoken about peace. On September 22, he stated that after the end of the conflict in Ukraine, it would be necessary to “rethink relations with Russia.”

Residents of several European countries have already felt the consequences of the conflict “on their own skin,” and their leaders are forced to take this into account. As a result, Western leaders need to maintain a delicate balance—on one hand, they speak about supporting Ukraine, while on the other hand, they acknowledge the possibility of peace with Russia.