Rybakov: Countries were pressured not to vote for Belarus at UNSC elections

MINSK, 7 June (BelTA) - During the election of non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, countries were pressured not to vote for Belarus, Belarus' permanent representative to the United Nations Organization Valentin Rybakov told the media on 6 June, BelTA has learned.

“We are disappointed with the results of the election. The entire election campaign was held in extremely difficult conditions, under great pressure from the collective West. We know the facts of coercion to vote for Slovenia. Some countries were threatened no funding for development projects, technical assistance and so on if they vote for Belarus,” Valentin Rybakov said.

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According to him, Belarus was also actively persuaded to withdraw its candidacy in favor of Slovenia. “Which we did not do. I think that the way we went was very useful. This is one of the rare cases where the process is as important as the result. We have had a huge number of meetings with representatives of different countries, during which we were able to convey truthful information about the situation in Belarus, about our attitude to regional and global issues,” the diplomat said.

He added that irrespective of the election campaign, Belarus continues to take specific positions, based on its national interests. “These positions are not supported by some states. For example, these are some aspects related to human rights and family values. “This also leaves an impact on the result that we have today,” Valentin Rybakov said.

In his words, the unprecedented pressure, which was put on the states to ensure certain voting results, had, paradoxically, a positive effect. “Even if a country voted against Belarus, there still was a strong understanding that this was happening contrary to the sovereign wishes of a particular state, against its will,” the Belarusian permanent representative to the UN said.

The diplomat stressed that Belarus would continue to work actively in the UN, in all its structures, including both existing and future initiatives. According to him, after the election a number of ambassadors came up to personally congratulate Belarus on how the country conducted its election campaign, thanked for the information and wished success in its future activities in the UN.