The Austrian Socialist Peter Schieder was elected President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on Monday, 21st January. Mr Schieder succeeds the British Lord Russell-Johnston. In his inaugural speech in Strasbourg the new president said: "Belarus remains a problem. On the one hand, the attitude of the presidential regime has not changed and remains totally unacceptable in terms of democratic and human rights standards. On the other hand, isolation does little to change the status quo. The Assembly will have to pursue its delicate diplomatic balancing act, between support for progressive forces in Belarus and the need to avoid condoning the dictatorial attitude of the present regime."
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