Belarusan opposition meets with the Head of OSCE’s Working Group on Belarus

The meeting took place in Stockholm on December 16.

Participating in the meeting were Anatol Liabedzka, chairman of the United Civic Party (UCP), Aliaksei Janukevich, chairman of the Belarusan Popular Front, and Yury Hubarevich, deputy chairman of the Movement for Freedom. 

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly currently forms a new Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, which is why the Group does not yet have an action plan, BelaPAN  quotes Anatol Liabedzka with reference to the UCP press office. However, it is clear that the Group's strategy will depend to a large extent on the stance of its chairman, he said. Christian Holm, the newly appointed chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, described his service in this position as a new experience and stressed that the Group should stay constantly in touch with Belarus' civil society to be as efficient as possible, he said. 

According to Mr. Liabedzka, there is every reason to believe that securing freedom for the Belarusan political prisoners and ensuring democratic elections in the country will be the top priorities for the Group. Mr. Holm hopes that his new position will allow him to visit Belarus much more frequently and does not rule out that he will ask for an opportunity to meet with political prisoners during his first visit, he said. 

Let us recall that Christian Holm was appointed to chair the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus on October 15. He is known for his severe criticism of the Belarusan government. He was planning to visit Belarus in March 2011 at the invitation of Mr. Janukevich, but was denied an entry visa. 

Mr. Holm is the author of a resolution on Belarus adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in July 2013. The resolution called on the Belarusan government to release and exonerate all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally. 

Viktar Huminski, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus, subsequently called for the Working Group to be dissolved. He claimed that there for no need for its existence. 

The Group was set up in October 1998 in order to assist in the development of democracy in Belarus and facilitate dialogue between the government and opposition forces in the country.