Greens/EFA Co-President Daniel Cohn-Bendit together with a delegation of MEPs will lay a wreath at the tomb of Anna Politkovskaya on Sunday, 28 October, at 17.00 at the Troyekurovsky Cemetery in Moscow. This homage to the assassinated Russian journalist will precede the opening of a three-day conference of the Greens/EFA group in the Russian capital on the state of EU-Russia relations.

A 30 strong Green delegation (including 12 MEPs and national MPs) from the European Union will participate in the conference, which is co-organised by the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament and the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Moscow. It will bring together European Green politicians, Russian opposition leaders (including Grigory Yavlinsky and Garry Kasparov) members of civil society and NGOs.

Topics to be discussed by the conference, which will take place in the Katerina City Hotel in Moscow, include Russia-EU relations in the context of foreign policy, the fight against climate change, nuclear waste, human rights, Chechnya, democracy and freedom of press.

On Monday, 29 October, the Greens/EFA delegation will visit the Solovezky Memorial Stone at the Lyubyanka Square to assist a reading in remembrance of the victims of political repression. They will return the next day to the memorial stone for a meeting in the context of the official “Day for Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression”. Thereafter, the delegation will visit the headquarters of the Russian Human Rights NGO Memorial.

On Wednesday, 31 October, a debate with Russian and foreign journalists on the question of press freedom is scheduled for the morning.

A press conference with Daniel Cohn-Bendit will conclude the meeting on Wednesday, 31 October, at 13.00 at the conference venue.

For the detailed programme please got to http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/default/dok/201/201729.greensefa_in_russia@en.htm

For all media arrangements please contact Helmut Weixler at +32 475 671340 (mobile) or at helmut.weixler@europarl.europa.eu (email)