Uta Tsapf: Belarusian Authorities Seek to Neutralize OSCE AMG :: Charter'97 :: News

Delegation of the special working group for Belarus of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, chaired by the Bundestag deputy Uta Tsapf, harbors no illusion as far as the changes in Belarus are concerned. This was mentioned at the final press-conference ending the OSCE PA visit to Minsk. In particular, Uta Tsapf during her meeting with the executive and legislative delegations, “expressed serious alarm over the fact that OSCE AMG, which used to function without its leader Wieck after his departure in December 2001, now is left also without the deputy head Michele Rivolier, who was denied prolongation of accreditation and had to leave the country”. Head of the OSCE PA delegation also stressed that if the Belarusian authorities don’t prolong the accreditation to the acting OSCE group’s chair Mr.Carpenter, “it’ll result in a new escalation of conflict”. “By so doing the Belarus authorities are seeking to neutralize AMG”, concluded Tsapf.

The international parliamentarians have been most of all troubled by the fact that “the Belarusian authorities failed to present any positive information concerning their intentions on the future activities and accreditation of the still working AMG representatives”.

During the press-conference Uta Tsapf noted that the delegation repeated its proposal to the Belarusian authorities – to yield to the proposed candidacy of the new AMG head, German diplomat Ebergard Haiken, as well as allow the AMG to resume work on the basis of its original mandate of 1997 and the concomitant article of the Istanbul summit’s declaration.

As concerns further AMG activities, the delegation suggests that they discuss them not until Mr.Haiken starts executing his duties in Belarus. Moreover, both Uta Tsapf and two other delegation members – Lithuanian MP Helena Demakova and Swedish deputy urban Alin – answering the journalists’ questions, have numerously emphasized that the situation with OSCE AMG, if left unaltered, will hinder the development of normal relations between Belarus and all OSCE institutes, along with other European organizations.