MINSK, 6 April (BelTA) – A delegation of the Belarusian parliament will take part in the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which will be held in Istanbul in April, noted Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives Sergei Rachkov in a comment to journalists before a videoconference session of the Eurasia geopolitical group in preparation for participation in the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, BelTA has learned.
“During the session of the geopolitical group we are considering the agenda [of the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union]. We are discussing possible positions of the countries that are part of the Eurasia geopolitical group and coordinating our positions where possible,” noted Sergei Rachkov.
The commission chairman noted that the 152nd session, which will open in Istanbul soon, will consider a crucial personnel matter: the election of the secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. “The day before as chairman of the group I held videoconference meetings with most of the candidates. There are currently five of them. They represent different regions of our world. There are also representatives from Eastern Europe,” he said.
It is expected that on the eve of the Assembly’s opening a session of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will take place, during which only two candidates for the post of the secretary general will be selected. These two candidates will then be presented during the Assembly session.
The MP also announced the resolution of another personnel issue. The term of office of the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, who is currently the speaker of the parliament of Tanzania, is expiring. The autumn session will be dedicated, among other things, to the election of a new president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. “Our geopolitical group Eurasia has never yet put forward a candidate for this position, but we are also working on this matter,” said Sergei Rachkov.
In his words, the upcoming event in Istanbul will be important given the current situation developing in the world, particularly in the Middle East. The parliamentarian noted that some countries have designs on “how to blow up one region of the world or another”. During the session attention was paid to inter-parliamentary cooperation, approaches and positions on ensuring international peace and security, personnel matters, and resolutions to be adopted in the permanent commissions of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Sergei Rachkov noted that Belarus has always worked very actively within the framework of the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In addition to him, the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will also be attended by the chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic Sergei Aleinik. Representatives of Belarus traditionally speak in front of most committees. “Our priority, of course, is the commission on international peace and security because we are concerned about the situation in our region. We also pay attention to sustainable development, because it is an economic topic. Here, we constantly draw our colleagues’ attention to the illegality and injustice of economic pressure on the Republic of Belarus and on other countries of the world,” the parliamentarian noted.
The Belarusian side is also active in the work of the high-level group on counter-terrorism and violent extremism. “You see that terrorism is being used very widely, even at the state level, against individual states, which is certainly unacceptable and impermissible. And the position of the Republic of Belarus is that we are always against such actions, we reject them, and we call on countries to return to the fold of international law and act exclusively within the framework of the UN Charter,” said Sergei Rachkov.
On the eve of Assemblies of the Inter-Parliamentary Union geopolitical regional groups discuss the session agendas and the possible inclusion of emergency items. This form of work is practiced within the Inter-Parliamentary Union when pressing problems exist, primarily in the sphere of international security and peacekeeping. “In recent years these have been the Palestinian problem and the situation around Ukraine. Today we anticipate that some of our colleagues might introduce a resolution related to the situation in the Middle East onto the agenda,” the MP added.
Belarus has been chairing the Eurasia geopolitical group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for the third year.
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