Opinions & Interviews

Senator: Belarus advocates dialogue based on respect, understanding

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MINSK, 25 February (BelTA) - Belarus advocates a dialogue with its partners on the principles of respect and mutual understanding, Sergei Rachkov, Chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, told reporters today, BelTA has learned.

“We are guided by the universal principles. We advocate a dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, understanding, non-interference in internal affairs and would like to be treated the same way. And, of course, we always search for matters that unite and on which we can cooperate,” Sergei Rachkov noted. “You have seen what has been happening in the international relations lately. Cooperation is only declared. In reality it is pressure and sanctions, which does not correlate with cooperation."

The 20th Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly opened on 24 February and will be running till 26. Members of the House of Representatives and members of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus are participating in the meeting. On 25 February the Belarusian delegation attended a joint meeting of the three general committees of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“We would like to see our initiative, namely the draft resolution on preventing drug use among children and youth to make progress. The topic is very topical and important. We always advocate unifying topics in the international organizations. This is our understanding of the opportunities that the international organizations provide. We aim to find more common interests and common ground," the senator said.

Sergei Rachkov did not rule out that foreign colleagues may have questions about the situation in Belarus. "We are ready for this, and our position is transparent and clear. We are against interference in the internal affairs of Belarus. Those who wanted to monitor the presidential election in Belarus found such an opportunity and came to the country. I was part of three OSCE/ODIHR missions to observe two presidential elections in the United States and one local elections in Albania. The OSCE/ODIHR has different formats that it can use to monitor elections, even in such difficult conditions as a pandemic. Nevertheless, we are open, prepared for dialogue and not afraid of a difficult dialogue,” he said. “I would like to emphasize that dialogue both within the OSCE and with many European countries and the EU as a whole has been developing fruitfully."

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