On 15 and 16 May National Council president Jürg Stahl was in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. Meetings were also held with the Chairwoman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, with representatives from the Russian-Swiss parliamentary friendship group of the State Duma and the Federation Council, with Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, responsible for sport, tourism and youth policy, and Vice Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov. The working visit to Moscow was rounded off by discussions with representatives from Russia’s civil society and a visit to Metalloobrabotka, an exhibition on the metal and tool industry, in which Swiss firms are strongly represented.
A wide range of issues were discussed during the talks. Bilateral relations between the two countries are good, although somewhat marred by the crisis in the Ukraine. Although Switzerland has not issued sanctions against Russia, it has taken measures to ensure that Swiss territory is not misused to avoid international sanctions. There are strong parliamentary relations between Switzerland and Russia; there have been several meetings and exchanges in recent years at high level and between parliamentary friendship groups. During the visit to Moscow, it was agreed to pursue the close relations between the two parliaments; in this dialogue it should be able possible to address all manner of topics (bilateral relations, the crisis in Ukraine, the situation in Syria and human rights in Russia etc.).
On 17 and 18 May the Swiss delegation visited St Petersburg, where Mr Stahl delivered a speech at the International Legal Forum, along with the Russian prime minister, Dmitri Medvedev. The forum, set up by the Russian Justice Ministry in 2011, considers questions of legal developments in a globalised world. Courtesy visits to Vice Governor Alexander Govorunov and the chairman of the local parliament, Vyacheslav Makarov, also took place. Furthermore, the delegation visited the scientific research vessel Akademik Trioschnikov in the port of St Petersburg, which recently conducted the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) with the support of the EPFL and other Swiss universities.
The president of the National Council was accompanied by a delegation consisting of National Council member and first vice president Dominique de Buman (CVP/FR), National Council member and second vice president Marina Carobbio Guscetti (SP/TI), and National Council members Adrian Amstutz (SVP/BE), Thierry Burkart (FDP.The Liberals/AG), Balthasar Glättli (GP/ZH), Tiana Angelina Moser (GLP/ZH) and Rosmarie Quadranti (BDP/ZH). Philippe Schwab, Secretary General of the Federal Assembly and Claudio Fischer, Ambassador, head of International Affairs and Multilingualism, were also part of the delegation.