MPs from Various Countries Stage Demarche Against Russian Council Speaker at Swiss Conference

Dozens of participants at the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva left the hall during the speech of Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.

The Gaze writes about it, referring to a video recording of the walkout posted on Facebook by Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada representing Ukraine.

In the video clip published by Kondratyuk, several dozen members of the delegations can be seen leaving the hall in connection with Matviyenko's speech.

‘I am proud of all our partners and colleagues! This is a protest against the aggressor, this is support for the people of Ukraine!’ Kondratyuk reacted. 

Details about who left the hall and who remained are currently unknown. 

Prior to this, the Verkhovna Rada expressed outrage at the presence of the Russian delegation and called on conference participants to avoid any interaction with it.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhiy said that Matvienko's place is ‘in the dock, not at international conferences,’ and that her admission to Geneva ‘is shameful and should not have happened.’

The World Conference of Speakers of Parliament meets once every five years. This is the first such event since the Russian Federation's full-scale attack on Ukraine.