Christopher Smith Shocked by OSCE PA’s Decision :: Charter'97 :: News

Following six years of recognition denial, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly all of a sudden ruled to legitimize the “national assembly” of Belarus. The US delegation proposed to postpone the issue’s consideration till summer session. The head of the US Congress delegation Christopher Smith said the following: “I’m shocked by the very idea that we can have any doubts as to whether or not we should give room for Lukashenko’s representatives. The man already commented on the OSCE mission’s return as if it was his personal victory and confession of their intervention into Belarus’ internal affairs. But the core essence of human rights control is this: the members don’t let other members violate human rights. If there’s a country, which infringes on them, we got to react. And in my view, this new mission will be pretty much isolated and not really influential”.

Yesterday UCP press-service reported that 18 delegations in OSCE PA voted to put off the issue till later date, 20 voted in favor of reinstating Belarusian parliament’s status, while 5 abstained.