Photo courtesy of the House of Representatives
MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – We do not tolerate attempts to tell us who to be friends with and what leaders to choose, Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives of Belarus Sergei Rachkov said at a meeting of the OSCE PA General Committee on Political Affairs and Security in Vienna, BelTA has learned.
“During the general debate of our committee, I would like to share Belarus' vision of the causes of the unprecedented security crisis in the OSCE area. In short, this is disregard for interdependence, fair compromises and each other's security interests, as well as a departure from a realistic view on spheres of interests and influence. Despite the prevailing confrontational atmosphere in the OSCE and its structures in recent years, we will all have to commit ourselves to addressing pressing issues if we care about the future of our organization, if we want to take the region away from the brink of the abyss,” Sergei Rachkov said.
Belarus has never posed a threat to any of its neighbors, the parliamentarian noted. “However, the unprecedented unilateral coercive measures of Western countries against Belarus, the reckless expansion of NATO, the build-up of troops and the intensification of military exercises near our borders - all this forces us to take a pragmatic position in assessing these threats.
Moreover, we do not tolerate attempts, including under the cover of the OSCE, to dictate to us who to be friends with and what leaders to choose. Our delegation rejects the assessments of the situation in Belarus that were voiced in the speeches, as divorced from reality. In response to that, we were forced to beef up our security and our actions are consistent and transparent. We are also consistently working to make a contribution to regional security. For two years in a row, Minsk hosted an international conference on Eurasian security, demonstrating that we are capable of creating an environment conducive to developing principles for peaceful coexistence in Europe and in Eurasia. In the same responsible way we approached the organization of the conference on illegal migration in Minsk and we invited all our Western neighbors to participate. Their withdrawal from the proposed dialogue speaks for itself.”
“Moreover, we continued to work on the initiative of the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century in the spirit of Helsinki and San Francisco. Belarus sees this document as comprehensive and all-encompassing, consistent with the UN Charter. This document is meant to facilitate a global security consensus and set out the principles to build a peaceful world order in the future. We are open to proposals and discussions. And if we do not want the OSCE and ourselves to become irrelevant, we must have enough political will to engage in genuine diplomacy and mutually respectful dialogue even on the most divisive issues. This matter is taking on new significance this year when we mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. In addition, this year we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism, which gives special meaning to the OSCE unifying agenda and our joint efforts to overcome the challenges of our time,” Sergei Rachkov said.
The delegation of the National Assembly of Belarus to the OSCE PA headed by Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives Sergei Rachkov is taking part in the 24th Winter Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna, Austria on 20-21 February. The program of the event includes sessions of the Standing Committee of the OSCE PA and three general committees on Political Affairs and Security, on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, and on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, as well as joint meetings of the above committees.
Members of the Belarusian delegation are scheduled to make speeches on the agenda of the OSCE PA Winter Meeting, and to hold meetings with MPs of the OSCE participating states.
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