Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The 9th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting themed “Role of Asia-Europe parliamentary partnership in ASEM” successfully ran April 21-22 in Ulaanbaatar.

It brought together 170 delegates from 32 countries and the European Parliament (EP). Two sub-meetings also ran with titles “Effective multilateral relations and cooperation” and “Partnership for future”.

Participants of the ASEP9 reaffirmed their willingness to keep their endeavor forward the ASEM for bilateral partnerships based on common principles on equality, on respecting each other, backing and protecting human rights and freedom. They pledged to strengthen parliamentary directions to ASEM actions, to fortify the ties between the ASEM and ASEP and to take proper measures for promoting parliaments’ roles in realizing common purposes and interests of Asian and European nations. The participants also expressed a confidence that the 20th anniversaries of the ASEM and of ASEP will significantly contribute to the development of the comprehensive partnership and multilateral cooperation of Asia-Europe people, business, parliaments and governments.

The ASEP9 attendees strongly condemned all kinds of terrorism as severe threats to the global peace and stability, expressing their concern about increasing number of terrorist acts around the world. They underlined that parliaments have been contributing to anti-terrorist combat in ways of approving relevant laws, supervising their realization and allotting necessary financing.

Noting that the UN bears a supreme role in protecting the international peace and security, the ASEP9 participants emphasized main roles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons in proliferating weapons of mass destruction, forwarding actions of disarmament and fully prohibiting tests of nuclear weapons.

They reaffirmed that it is necessary to strengthen the multilateral and international cooperation in resolving present and new born challenges to the world through principles and norms of international law.

Refugees and flow of migrants have peaked the largest number ever, the participants stressed, and concerned about a humanitarian crisis near borders of European countries and transit nations. They said it is urgent to tackle the ongoing problems on migration and refugees through complex measures covering all politics, security socio-economic factors, on protecting the refugees and migrants, rendering to them humanitarian aid and finding out sustainable and long-term solutions.

Asian and European countries noted that a respect of human rights and freedom is one of the factors for strengthening the just, equal, democratic and open society, and emphasized a necessity to run talks and cooperation in forming unified understanding, to adhere to laws and to anti-corruption combat. 

At the end of the meeting, the ASEP participants adopted a Declaration with 44 clauses, which reflect issues of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, international and regional cooperation on energy security, the ASEM members’ cooperation in reducing risks of natural disasters and management in natural disasters, commercial and investment ties between Asian and European countries, strengthening the inter-citizen ties and on copyrights.

The Chairman of the State Great Khural (parliament) of Mongolia Mr Z.Enkhbold made the closing remarks, noting about a successful conclusion of the ASEP9, and expressed a gratitude to all the participants for attending the event.