Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 June (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko discussed the activities of the Belarusian Parliament, the preparations for the 26th session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Minsk and the situation in Vitebsk Oblast on 20 June, BelTA has learned.

The head of state asked about the results of the regular session in the Belarusian Parliament. “This is a new-convocation parliament. You are an experienced politician and can compare and make comparisons. From this point of view, how would you describe our parliament today?” Alexander Lukashenko asked.

One of the themes of the meeting was the progress in the optimization of the House of Representatives apparatus. The president said that the MPs cannot remain aloof from this process. “To understand the optimization as personnel downsizing is not right. What is important is the reduction of funding and financial costs on maintaining this or that organization. This is what optimization is about,” the head of state noted.

Special attention was paid to the preparations for the 26th Minsk summer session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. “I would like to know in detail about the status of our preparations. You have set up a commission and were supposed to define my role in this process so that I can plan my work schedule,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

The president also inquired about the state of affairs in Vitebsk Oblast as Vladimir Andreichenko was elected to represent several districts of the northern region of Belarus.

Vladimir Andreichenko informed the president that the preparations for the 26th summer PA OSCE session are a priority for the House of Representatives in the light of the great international significance of this event. “Interest in the session is very high. As of today 593 participants from 56 country have already registered. We expect that the number of participating countries will increase,” he noted.