State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has been elected chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia.
The meeting participants approved Naryshkin candidature unanimously. Naryshkin replaces Boris Gryzlov, who as State Duma speaker, headed the parliamentary assembly of the union.
Naryshkin said he intended to use every opportunity to increase the authority of the Parliamentary Assembly and the integration of Belarus and Russia.
The 41st Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia will take place on Thursday, in which the powers of new chambers of the Federal Assembly of Russia will be recognized.
On April 2 Russia and Belarus celebrated the establishment of the Union State fifteen years ago. Despite the formal union, the two states have had an occasionally strained relationship marked by disputes over economic issues.
