Opinions & Interviews

“We consider the hosting of this conference is another step to further develop the dialogue and cooperation in the legal sector with the Council of Europe, including possible expansion of Belarus’ participation in the international agreements of the Council of Europe and their implementation,” said Andrei Popkov.

In his words, Belarus’ legal framework comprises more than 1,700 multilateral international agreements and over 2,200 bilateral documents. “Today international agreements are used more often as one of the instruments to transform and improve the national legal system, taking into account international standards,” said the representative of the ministry.

According to the diplomat, Belarus shows interest in various conventions and other international documents of the Council of Europe. Belarus has already joined some of them, including the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the European Cultural Convention. “We have addressed the Council of Europe with a request to consider Belarus’ accession to other conventions that are of interest to both Belarus and the CE member states,” Andrei Popkov added.

The expansion of Belarus’ participation in CE international documents and cooperation on their basis will promote the country’s integration to the pan-European processes and intensify the dialogue with the Council of Europe, Andrei Popkov noted. “Accession to the CE conventions is not an end in itself or some single-step action. The accession is always preceded by long diligent work of experts,” he said. In this respect today’s conference of the Council of Europe in Minsk provides unique opportunities for Belarusian experts.

The expert conference on legal standards and the Council of Europe’s conventions is underway at the Belarusian State University on 15-16 September. The event is organized by the Council of Europe and its Information Point in Minsk as well as the Belarusian State University with the support of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.