Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S. Aghayeva/ Today, on 28 March, Ogtay Asadov, Azerbaijan's Speaker and Sergey Mironov, Chairman of the Russian Senate (the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament) has signed a protocol on the foundation of the Interstate Institute of Monitoring the Development of Democracy, Parliamentarism and Observance of Election Rights of the Citizens of Member-States of Inter-parliamentary Assembly of CIS.
Mr. Mironov particularly remarked on the fact that the first branch was established in Baku, and that "it justifies the particular authority of the Azerbaijan Parliament of the Milli Majlis in the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly". He expressed his hope that "other CIS member-states' capitals will follow Baku's example and establish such institutes within their own countries".
During the meeting of the Russian Senators, who were part of the delegation of the Russian Senate to pay an official visit to Baku, as well as Azerbaijani MPs, both parties noted "the dynamic development of relations between the two countries on many issues". Mr. Asadov paid particular attention to its "respectful approach" toward the Russian culture and language in the country, by telling the Russian Senator that the Russian language was taught in over 30 institutes of higher education and more than 460 contemporary schools in the country. He added that various newspapers, magazines, and journals were currently issued in Russian in Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijan's Speaker, "all this will draw our nations closer to each other".