NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) – Another launch of the Moscow Mechanism against Belarus is nothing but a political circus organized by Western countries in a bid to get 15 minutes of cheap fame. Belarus' representative made the relevant statement at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council held in Vienna on 23 March to discuss the Moscow Mechanism, the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BelTA.
Belarus' representative noted: “With sadness we observe how respected delegations of Western countries stubbornly use the so-called Moscow Mechanism against Belarus once again. Naturally, while treating all those present in this chamber with unwavering respect, we don't expect that delegations of the countries that have initiated yet another political show focusing on Belarus seriously expect a result different from those produced by all the previous investigations. Fifteen minutes of cheap fame for those willing to declare their righteous political stance before the entire world will be the only outcome.”
“At the same time, this process has zero results from the point of view of sensible communication, which is the only thing able to give a constructive answer to our alarms and concerns,” Belarus' representative stated.
The statement also says that by using an obviously outdated tool from another historical age, the initiators of yet another “judgment of Belarus by the progressive community” bet on continuing the tactics of racking up pressure on Belarus across the board – through sanctions, isolation, and intimidation.
“Respected colleagues! If you think you can provoke a sincere conversation about burning problems out of your opponent by waving sanctions as a club, you are simply deceive yourselves. For many centuries external forces have been constantly trying to choke the Belarusian nation, subdue it to their will, force it to live according to someone else's perceptions of what is right and what is wrong. It didn't work out back then and it will fail today, too,” Belarus' representative stressed.
In the speech the representative noted that Belarusian authorities can and are ready to discuss questions and wishes of individual countries but under one condition: in the format of equal and respectful interstate dialogue. Without high-handed claims and ultimatums, with understanding of the entire complexity of the world and the diversity of civilizational ways towards happiness and prosperity.
The OSCE's Moscow Mechanism is the OSCE's approach to work in the human dimension upon the initiative of member states. It includes the organization of missions of experts or rapporteurs with a view to examining the state of affairs in the human dimension in a specific country. The mechanism was introduced by the OSCE's Moscow document in elaboration of the Vienna Mechanism, which provided for bilateral meetings and the sharing of information about human dimension matters. The Moscow Mechanism has been used against Belarus twice already: upon the initiative of 14 OSCE members in 2011 and upon the initiative of 17 OSCE members in 2020. In both cases the Belarusian government refuted accusations and did not participate in the realization of the mechanism. The Belarusian government called it a rusted tool of a past age.
“Consensus is central to the OSCE while the Moscow Mechanism is not based on consensus. It is susceptible to momentary, politicized, and biased influences and manipulation,” Belarus' permanent representative to the OSCE made the statement at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council in 2011.
A similar situation happened in 2020, too. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei stated back then that the Belarusian government did not intend to participate in the OSCE's Moscow Mechanism. He said: “We dealt with a situation like that in 2011. I think we can deal with this situation now as well. The mechanism provides for setting up some expert group and for sending it to Belarus for the sake of studying the situation in the area of human rights. The Belarusian government has no intention of participating in the implementation of this mechanism.” Vladimir Makei also stressed that Belarus is dead against such approaches.
