"The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) wishes to create a closer synergy with regional parliamentary assemblies, which play a crucial role at the regional level", declared IPU President, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez, speaking at the ParliaParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg (France).

The President of the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organization, invited the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the first parliamentary organization established in Europe, to cooperate more closely with the IPU: "Our political project of seeking to provide a parliamentary dimension to international cooperation is a shared project", he stressed.

The IPU and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe share two fundamental political objectives: the defence and promotion of human rights and the advancement of parliamentary democracy. As Senator Páez recalled, "in the human rights field, we have worked together, with our specific approaches, on cases concerning former Turkish MPs of Kurdish origin and a case concerning Belarus, by exchanging information and experience and by taking joint action".

The President of the world organization of parliaments also referred to other IPU activities, in particular the parliamentary meetings organized in collaboration with the World Trade Organization. "Follow-up activities are handled by a permanent committee, on which your Assembly is fully represented", he stressed.

Senator Páez also underscored the strengthening of cooperation between the IPU and the UN. "Working from this new perspective, we hope to give a further impetus to the relationship between law-makers and representatives of the Executive, on international issues and in the field of multilateral relations". He concluded by referring to the preparations for the second Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments, Preparatory Committee of which had met earlier in the week in Geneva.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 138 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has an office as Permanent Observer with the United Nations in New York.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60, 919 41 97 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org