MINSK, 19 November (BelTA) – Events of the 23rd autumn meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) proceeded in a rather calm and constructive manner, BelTA learned from Sergei Rachkov, Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, head of the Belarusian parliament’s delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as the MP summarized results of the meeting.
An autumn meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is nearly over in Istanbul. Over 50 delegations took part in it. It is remarkable that it was the second meeting missed by the U.S. delegation, which did not go to Istanbul due to the situation in the United States of America.
Belarus’ representative explained that the meeting does not make concrete decisions. Instead it is geared towards discussing matters of current interest to the Euro-Atlantic space.
The Belarusian delegation took the most active part in all the sessions. It spoke before the OSCE PA Standing Committee and during all the panel sessions. “We’ve declared it is necessary to work out a new architecture of European security, have suggested combining problems of Europe and Asia and developing the Charter of Multipolarity and Diversity in the 21st Century, which is supposed to ensure peace, stability, and security in Eurasia. We’ve emphasized it is inadmissible to use economic pressure against sovereign states,” the parliamentarian said.
A topic relating to the concrete situation in the region was raised. Many delegations mentioned Ukraine. According to Sergei Rachkov, it was mainly done for the sake of declaration and condemnation.
“To my great regret, very few concrete proposals relating to the enhancement of security in Europe were voiced. Many delegations present a series of critical remarks targeting countries without having concrete information. Meanwhile, many spoke of the need to counteract some disinformation,” Sergei Rachkov noted.
The Belarusian delegation talked about trade matters in a very concrete manner. “We’ve emphasized that trade should unite countries instead of disuniting them. We’ve expressed the opinion that the Republic of Belarus never uses the border for political goals,” he said.
Matters of humanitarian cooperation and interaction also became an important topic. The autumn meeting’s organizers suggested an interesting, unusual topic relating to human dignity. Belarus stressed that the dignity of a person presumes respect for the sovereignty of the state.
“On the whole, the meeting proceeded in a rather calm and constructive manner,” Belarus’ representative noted.
The Belarusian delegation held a meeting with OSCE PA President Pere Joan Pons Sampietro and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella. “We exchanged opinions about the situation in Europe, about the tasks the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly should accomplish, about establishing relations between the Belarusian parliament and parliaments of European countries,” Sergei Rachkov concluded.
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