Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 30 June (BelTA) - Belarus views the visit of the Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) as a token of respect, Chairman of the House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Head of the Swedish Delegation to the OSCE PA Kent Harstedt, BelTA has learned.

"We view your visit as a token of respect on the part of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to the Republic of Belarus as a full member of the organization," said Vladimir Andreichenko. He stressed that Belarus has always been in favor of enhancing the role of the OSCE. According to him, the Belarusian delegation has always been very active in the OSCE PA. In recent years, Belarus has suggested a lot of resolutions which were supported at the sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly. Among them were the resolutions on combating trafficking in human beings, on the green economy.

Vladimir Andreichenko stated that the cooperation between Belarus and the OSCE PA has recently intensified. He noted that the visit of the Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will give a positive impetus to cooperation, including to the bilateral relations between Belarus and Sweden. Vladimir Andreichenko also hopes that Sweden will assist with the development of inter-parliamentary relations.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives also pointed out that the trade between Belarus and Sweden was $307 million in 2010, and only about $177 million in 2014. "So we have a lot of work to do," said the Chairman of the House of Representatives.