Eurasian Dialogue Format Should Comprise Area From Lisbon to Vladivostok

The term "Eurasia" should be expanded to the area from Lisbon to Vladivostok, Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The format of pan-Eurasian dialogue should include all the continent from Lisbon to Vladivostok, Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, said Saturday.

Moscow hosted the conference of the speakers of the Eurasian states' parliaments on April 18-20, focusing on inter-parliamentary cooperation for joint prosperity of Eurasia. Lawmakers from 19 states attended the event.

"I am sure that sooner or later the world will come to this — to the great Eurasia from Lisbon to Vladivostok on the west-east axis, and from Oslo, from Murmansk to Delhi, Shanghai and Hanoi on the the north-south axis where Europe is part of this big, powerful continent," he told Russia's Vesti v Subbotu weekly news program answering whether the Eurasian dialogue is an alternative to the Russia-EU dialogue format.

The speaker added that the idea of such interparliamentary conference emerged not long ago — in the fall of 2015, with the meeting's results exceeding all expectations.

In mid-2015, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev reaffirmed the idea of a single economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, stating that it is still on agenda despite current difficulties in relations between Russia and Europe.