Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 11 September (BelTA) - The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is ready to continue cooperation with Belarus, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Gudrun Mosler-Tornstrom said after the meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on 11 September, BelTA has learned.

“We agreed that local self-government is of great importance because it begins public administration. We also discussed the successful cooperation that has been established between the Council of Europe and the Council of the Republic. I would like to note that we hope for a productive continuation of these relations,” she said.

The president of the congress added that a roundtable which is to be held in the Council of the Republic will focus on local self-government matters. “We will discuss various models of self-government with our partners from Belarus and various ways of cooperation,” she said.

Gudrun Mosler-Tornstrom added that she would be happy to visit the forum of regions of Belarus and Russia and that of Belarus and Ukraine which are scheduled for October 2018. “I believe that people need to establish ties and communicate. Personal communication is a good starting point for the relations of a bigger scale,” she said.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is an institution of the Council of Europe that represents local and regional authorities of European states. The Congress is made up of two chambers: the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions. The Council on Local Self-Government Cooperation at the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus has a status of an invited observer in the Congress.

The Council of the Republic and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities are holding a roundtable in Minsk on 11-12 September to discuss the pressing issues of local self-government. Attending the event are representatives of the congress from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, and Romania. The delegation is led by President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Gudrun Mosler-Tornstrom.