January 24. Chairman of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov commented on the election of Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the CF Foreign Affairs Committee, as the PACE’s European Democrat Group leader:
- I consider the election of Mikhail Margelov as the leader of the PACE’s European Democrat Group an unprecedented event. It’s an extremely good news for us because it means Russia’s prestige on the world arena has raised as well as authority of Russian representatives in international organizations. We are no more regarded as junior pupils at the school of democracy. Our representatives are perfectly able to define political trends in the activity of the key international organizations.