The “Hrodna Appeal” of European Parliament Did Not Become “Official”

Only 45 members of the European Parliament signed the appeal to express their worry about construction work in the historical centre of Hrodna. Thus, the initiative failed to be forwarded as an “official appeal” by the Parliament, Eurobelarus.info was told by press office officials of the European Parliament.

The written declaration was initiated by Mr. Tadeusz Zwiefka, a member of European Parliament from Poland, on September 24, 2007. It should have been signed by more than a half of the 785 members of the Parliament to be forwarded to the EU-Commission and The Council as an official appeal from the signing members. But only 45 members of the European Parliament signed the appeal.

“We have not received enough signatures for the written declaration to become official, however at least we had a chance to bring in this problem to Members of European Parliament. Most MEPs, especially from old member countries, do not have much knowledge about Belarus, therefore the value of information cannot be underestimated. I have initiated the appeal because we received a great deal of information from the intellectuals in Belarus with regards to the situation in the old town in Hrodna. The response from other members was not overwhelming, because issues connected to a single country usually do not appeal to a wider European audience. It is certainly easier to gain signatures with respect to transnational matters”, Tadeusz Zwiefka said.

The appeal initiated by Tadeusz Zwiefka stated that the local authorities in Belarus have no comprehensive regeneration programme for the historic centre of Hrodna, and as the result of construction work the monuments of architecture have been destroyed. The MEPs tried to draw the attention of UNESCO to the problem and to urge the Grodna city authorities to consider alternative transport plans that do not affect the city's historic centre and to carry out consultations on all reconstruction projects involving independent experts, including from other European countries.

Still, according to Tadeusz Zwiefka, there was no response to his declaration neither from the authorities, nor from the civil society organizations of Belarus.

Andrei Aliaksandrau
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