MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – Belarus holds elections not for Europe and America, but for its own people. Leonid Anfimov, head of the CIS observer mission, said on the air of the STV channel on 11 February, BelTA has learned.
Asked how the decision not to invite OSCE observers would affect the image of the election campaign, Leonid Anfimov said: "There are missions of observers from the CIS, from the SCO. There are observers at the invitation of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus. This means that their findings will be extremely objective about how democratic and free these elections are."
"Previously, when we conducted such missions to observe election campaigns, we did not have any serious remarks and complaints about the violation of domestic or international election laws in Belarus. Therefore, we probably fetishize the OSCE and its institutions too much," he said.
“There will be no OSCE, so what?" the head of the CIS mission wondered. “Is their findings the ultimate truth for us? After all, we do not hold elections in our country for Europe or America. We hold them for ourselves, for our people. We are electing a representative and legislative body of power that will defend the interests of the country and the people, including in the international arena. I believe that without the OSCE observer mission, the Belarusian parliament will be recognized as legitimate.
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