Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 21 September (BelTA) – The Belarus-Russia Union State Parliamentary Assembly hopes to get an observer status in the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Boleslav Pirshtuk told the media on 21 September, BelTA has learned.

The matter was discussed at the meeting between the vice speaker and the Parlatino delegation led by President Elias Castillo.

According to Boleslav Pirshtuk, the Union State MPs came out with a proposal to make the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia a collective member of the Parlatino with a status of an observer. “I think this will be a good, serious step to strengthen our positions. We should implement it this year," he said. Belarus and Russia seek to attract Latin American partners to the Eurasian Economic Union market.

An agreement on cooperation between the National Assembly and the Parlatino was signed in Minsk in 2016. Under the document the Belarusian parliament received a status of the permanent observer. The current visit of the Latin American Parliament delegation to Belarus is considered as a good signal for the relations to gain momentum.

During the talks in the House of Representatives the parties outlined a range of areas of interest to partners from Latin American countries. “They are most interested in Belarusian equipment, agriculture, and cooperation in healthcare,” Boleslav Pirshtuk said.

Elias Castillo noted that the Parlatino delegation came to Belarus to discuss the most promising areas of cooperation and share best practices. The Latin American MPs would like to get familiar with Belarus’ industrial development. They are set to visit a number of enterprises.

“We would also like to take a look at the inter-parliamentary agreement to boost relations between Belarus and the Latin American Parliament. Relations between MPs should become more active. This will promote economic growth,” he added.

The Latin American Parliament was instituted in Lima, Peru on 10 December 1964. The main purpose of the Parlatino is to promote harmonization of the legislation of the Latin American countries in such areas as education, healthcare, environmental protection and the fight against drug-related crimes.