A ROW over a visit from a Ukrainian politician with a history of ultra-nationalism has sparked a shake-up of Holyrood’s procedures.
Andriy Parubiy, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, was applauded by MSPs when he visited the Scottish Parliament last week.
But Scottish Labour’s Neil Findlay later demanded to know why MSPs were being invited to welcome a “racist, fascist Nazi” without their knowledge – and called for a review of vetting procedures.
Holyrood bosses have now confirmed all MSPs will be notified of international visits by email, with Mr Findlay hailing it “a good move”.
Mr Parubiy co-founded the Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) in 1991, which used the Wolfsangel symbol – a logo adopted by some SS units during World War Two – and only accepted ethnic Ukrainians as members.
However, in recent years he has moved firmly into the mainstream. His current party is centre-right, pro-EU and supports the country’s Jewish prime minister.
His political baggage is useful to Russia and its allies, who characterise the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and subsequent overthrow of the regime of Kremlin favourite Viktor Yanukovych as a “far-right coup”.
MSPs were told a notification email will now be sent out each week highlighting upcoming diplomatic visits to and from the Scottish Parliament, which have been taken forward by its International Relations Office.
However, this does not include visits supported by committees, cross-party groups, individual MSPs or the Scottish Government.
Previously, only party business managers and members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body were notified.
Mr Findlay said: “This is welcome news from the Scottish Parliament.
“Last week we were asked to welcome someone with a far right fascist past to Holyrood.
“This minor change of process will mean that in future all MSPs are informed of who is in attendance as an invited, and we can make an informed choice about whether they are accorded a warm welcome or not.”
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