Russia concerned over Japanese bill on Kuril Islands
Russian lawmakers are trying to negotiate with Japan to prevent a series of legislative actions, which would disrupt an easing of relations, reported the chair of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, according to RIA Novosti.
“We will definitely be continuing to discuss this matter, so that if possible certain legislative measures will not be allowed to pass, measures which would disrupt both countries’ efforts to move forward on the resolution of certain practical questions, including several very complex issues,”- said Kosachev while in Japan as a part of a parliamentary delegation.
Not long ago, the Japanese parliament passed a series of amendments to the bill “concerning special measures to resolve issues in the northern territories,” which has been in effect since 1982.
According to Kosachev, this law “was passed in a completely different era, amid different conditions of development for the relations of our two countries and was written using particularly severe, forceful language, especially, when it concerns the status of territories, which the Japanese are attempting to contest.” Therefore, he considers the amendments to the law to be “an extremely unfortunate development,” which could have a negative influence on the already complicated negotiations taking place “to organize joint business operations in the southern Kuril Islands.”