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Uzbekistan – Italy: interparliamentary relations are activated

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20.06.2011

Recently, on the invitation of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Italy delegation of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan headed by the Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis L.Gulyamov made an official visit to this country.

During the visit, members of Uzbek delegation held meetings with representatives of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Italy, in particular with Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies F.Posterato, Chairmen of the Italian delegation under the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE R.Mileri, heads of the Committee on Foreign Affairs S.Stephanie, Committee on Constitutional Issues D.Bruno, head of the mission of the Chamber of Deputies on Parliamentary Cooperation F.Testa, president of the association: “Italy – Uzbekistan” R.Abram, vice president of the Democratic Party of Italy, the deputy A.Marani, deputies of the Chamber of Deputies A.Calabria, A.Rasi, the head of the Secretariat on International Cooperation of the Italian Senate S.Taurelli, Adviser of the Department of the Senate R.Teodorotti and other members of the Parliament of Italy.

Members of the Parliamentary Delegation of Uzbekistan also participated as observers in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy.

During a visit to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Issues of the Parliament of Italy was held a presentation of the “Concept of further deepening democratic reforms and establishing civil society in the country” forwarded by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the joint session of the Legislative Chamber and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in November 2010.

During the meetings and presentations prospects of development of interparliamentary relations between Uzbekistan and Italy and other issues of strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

Meetings showed that in Italy the large-scale of implemented democratic reforms in Uzbekistan is watched with great interest. In particular deeply thought-out strategy of reforming the country was praised, in which, as noted by the Italian parliament, a man and his welfare comes first, emphasizing at the same time that the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov “demonstrates a clear strategic vision and ability to effectively deal with the challenges ahead”.

Positive assessment of results of the renovation and democratic modernization of Uzbekistan reached during the years of independence, gave the Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy F.Posterato. According to the deputies, the ongoing reforms in political, legislative, judicia and legal system have become a guarantor of stability in society, and their continuation in accordance with the Concept forwarded by the President of Uzbekistan, will allow a country with strong traditions and unique culture to further continue to develop in line with contemporary global democratic trends.

The head of the Committee on Constitutional Issues D.Bruno, deputies F.Narduchchi and J.Santelli, commenting on the main provisions of the conceptual report of the Head of our State emphasized the distinct advantage of new legislative initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan. It was emphasized that “in a short historically period Uzbekistan did a great job in building a secular and civil society, and the practical implementation of the Concept in the field of constitutional development, civil society development, democratic reforms in the economy displays the republic to the level of advanced democratic states”.

Chairman of the Italian delegation under the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE R.Mileri pointed out the importance of the experience of Uzbekistan for Italy in securing the rights of national minorities, pursued in this area of ​​educational and outreach activities.

During the meetings the officials of the Italian Republic paid great attention to strengthening security and cooperation in Central Asia. At the same time, understanding of the role, which is played by Uzbekistan to address these challenges, was shown.

Head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of Italy S.Stephanie noted that “Uzbekistan is a key country in the region, both politically and economically. The republic plays an important role in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan”.

Representatives of the Parliament of Italy emphasized that “Uzbekistan, having enormous economic potential and highly qualified staff shows around the world worthy progress and tangible results in consolidation of domestic politics and the economy, which help to promote the country as a key state in the region”.

In this connection it was pointed out that for Italy it is important to have a stable regional partner as Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan's position regarding the tragic events that took place in June of 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan was appreciated by the representatives of the Italian parliament. Noting the coincidence of many positions of Uzbekistan and Italy on the issue, it was noted that the balanced and restrained position of the leadership of Uzbekistan has prevented a potential threat from escalating tragic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan into the regional inter-state conflict.

During the discussion of these issues, Chairman of Italian delegation under the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE R.Mileri noted that “due to a balanced and well thought-out position of Uzbekistan it was managed to prevent the growth of instability in the region. In those days, Uzbekistan promptly opened its borders and agreed to its territory of more than 100 thousand refugees from neighboring country, organized their placement, medical care, food security, moral and psychological support. All this has once again demonstrated that Uzbekistan is in the truest sense of the word is the guarantor of peace and stability in the region”.

The Italian side had shown great interest in developing further round of fruitful cooperation with Uzbekistan, including in the sphere of parliamentarism.

During the visit members of Uzbek delegation had the opportunity to get acquainted with the legislative regulation and functioning of parliamentary democracy in Italy.