On December 12, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, a delegation of the de facto parliament of Abkhazia took part in the 4th International Conference “The role of the interaction between blocs and factions of political parties in inter-parliamentary cooperation of the CIS countries” which was held in Moscow.

The moderator of the conference was Leonid Kalashnikov, the Chairman of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Russian Duma. In addition to the de facto republic, parliamentary delegations from nine countries participated in the conference.

The conference discussed the development of inter-parliamentary relations of the CIS countries that will increase parliamentary cooperation. The importance of involvement of political parties in charity events was also noted. That is why the CIS member states declared 2024 as the “year of the volunteer movement.”

On the same day, a meeting of the Abkhaz-Russian delegation was held as part of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots. The Russian delegation was headed by Kalashnikov's first deputy, Kazbeg Taisayev.

At the meeting, the parties discussed facilitating the so-called border crossing procedure. In particular, the issue of canceling temporary import of goods through the Psou crossing checkpoint which connects the de facto republic with Russia. At the end of the meeting, the parties made a decision to establish a working group which will prepare relevant legal agreements.

It should be noted that the working group, which comprises members of the so-called parliament, plans to hold a meeting on the Russian-Belarusian border. Considering that there is no crossing checkpoint on the border between Russia and Belarus, Abkhaz “MPs” believe that observing operation mechanism on this type of border will be important to simplify the “border” crossing procedure.

In addition the meeting discussed issues of cooperation in the technological, digital and IT spheres.