You're reading: Russia Duma speaker Naryshkin clashes with OSCE PA chief over Crimea

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), Ilkka Kanerva, has reproached Russia over Crimea's annexation, to which State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin replied that, on the contrary, the oblast has gained freedom, and invited him to visit the peninsula.

“Unfortunately, it is obvious that at the moment the international system is degrading and in decline. The Russian Federation has cast doubt on the Helsinki Final Act by having annexed Crimea and destabilized the southeast of Ukraine,” Kanerva told a parliamentary forum in Moscow on Thursday.

Naryshkin replied: “Crimea was annexed in 1991. But in March 2014 Crimea became free thanks to the free choice exercised by two million Crimeans. I am inviting you once again: let us visit Crimea together. You will have a chance to speak to people on the streets and squares. They will tell you that they are free from now on.”