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MINSK, 13 September (BelTA) - Alexander Popkov, a member of the Presidium of the Council of the Republic of Belarus, called for supporting the Helsinki 2 initiative at the 7^th Annual Meeting of the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) on 12 September, BelTA learned from the press service of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament.

Alexander Popkov spoke as a co-chairman of the event. “In his opening speech he stressed a considerable role that Belarus plays in ensuring security in the region and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to develop sincere and friendly relations with all the countries, without detriment to the traditional cultural, economic and social ties. Alexander Popkov called upon those present at the meeting to support the Belarus President’s initiative of the Helsinki 2 dialogue,” the press service said.

The participants of the meeting shared the best practices to develop local self-governance in the European Union and the Eastern Partnership, enhance the sustainability of the local authorities to external challenges, help regional government officials adjust to the present-day requirements of the local communities. Attending the conference were CORLEAP members, representatives of the European Commission, the European External Action Service, diplomatic corps, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, experts and analysts. “The CORLEAP members reviewed the draft recommendations of the heads of state and government for the fifth Eastern Partnership summit which is due to take place in Brussels on 24 November. The majority of proposals were approved. The rest will be decided on as part of the written procedure,” the press service of the Council of the Republic said.

The conference concluded with Belarus official handing over the co-chairmanship to Ukraine that together with the European Committee of the Regions will preside at the CORLEAP through October 2018.