MINSK, 29 November (BelTA) - Depoliticizing institution of international observation is as important goal of today, Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko said during the joint meeting of the Council and the 14th plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) via a videoconference call, BelTA has learned.
Vladimir Andreichenko spoke “on the standards of democratic elections in the CSTO member states and their protection from foreign interference".
"Today, international observation has gone beyond the designated framework and has become an instrument that international organizations or groups of states use to exert political pressure. These organizations block any attempt at devising truly universal criteria and standards of electoral procedures, including election evaluation. From this we can conclude that depoliticizing institution of international observation is as important goal of today," said Vladimir Andreichenko.
According to him, the world is moving towards this goal. "In a generalized form, the basic principles and norms of international observation are reflected in the documents of the United Nations. But most of the documents are still regional, not universal.
First of all, these are a number of recommendations developed by the OSCE and the CIS. Therefore, all kinds of references to the position of the international community, uniform standards are, at least, not correct," the speaker said. “If we call a spade a spade a spade, this is an attempt to replace the international law with some rules developed by a narrow group of states to manipulate public opinion and achieve their geopolitical ends. This is especially evident in the position of the OSCE/ODIHR, the statements of the European Parliament. These organizations apply the practice of double standards on a regular basis. They demand everything from one state and nothing from another."
Vladimir Andreichenko added: "This begs a question: why it is ok to condemn and sanction Belarus and other CSTO countries and why the reaction in relation to pro-Western countries is symbolic? On what basis do the OSCE/ODIHR, the European Parliament and a number of other organizations arbitrarily reserve the right to assess the results of elections in a way convenient for them? I believe the answer is obvious - today the collective West uses elections as a tool of ramping up geopolitical confrontation, direct interference in the internal affairs of our states and the organization of color revolutions.”
