The State Duma urged to think about the issue of Russia’s withdrawal from UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has sharply politicized its activities, so the need to maintain Russia’s membership in it may be in question. stated State Duma Vice Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy on his Telegram channel.

“Interacting is one thing, but blindly obeying their orders is quite another. In such international organizations, we need to defend our economic and geopolitical interests, and not with our participation support the opinion of the Western establishment about what Russia can and cannot do,” Tolstoy said about cooperation with UNESCO, as well as with the WHO and the IOC.

Tolstoy recalled that in January Odessa was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. “Well, we understand why this was done,” he noted. At the same time, “UNESCO was not interested in the destroyed monasteries of Donbass.”

The Deputy Speaker of the State Duma also noted that on September 11, the next UNESCO session will begin in Saudi Arabia, where “Russia will be scolded for the tourist development of Baikal and Kamchatka.” At the same time, Tolstoy recalled, “the USA and Israel were not afraid when, by the way, they needed to withdraw from UNESCO in their national interests.”

July 12 State Duma in the first reading accepted a bill that allows clear sanitary felling in the Baikal natural territory. Draft amendments to the laws “On the Protection of Lake Baikal” and “On Environmental Expertise” were submitted to the State Duma by a group of 14 deputies from different factions and seven senators. Among the initiators of the bill are six State Duma deputies.

The authors of the document from parliament propose to allow the construction of roads, sewage treatment plants, utilities, cafes, restaurants and toilets there, citing concern for local residents and the fact that “life does not stand still,” Kommersant reports.

Opponents of the amendments in the State Duma called them “the destruction of natural systems under the pretext of solving problems.” The legal department of parliament opposed it, recalling the special status of Baikal.

The bill, which was adopted in the first reading, will protect Baikal from the most extreme pollution by sludge-lignin, which has accumulated at the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill [целлюлозно-бумажный комбинат], since there is a threat of mudflow there, said the head of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, in turn. The adoption of the law will also make it possible to create high-quality tourism infrastructure in highly localized places that have been identified and legislated since 2007, Tsydenov added. He thanked State Duma deputies for the adoption of the bill in the first reading.