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House of Representatives to re-ratify agreement on establishment of European Commission’s delegation in Minsk

The House of Representatives’ International Affairs Committee on December 2 decided to recommend the House to pass once again the ratification bill for an agreement on the establishment of the European Commission’s delegation in Minsk.

The lower chamber of the Belarusian National Assembly passed the bill on June 17, but the upper chamber, the Council of the Republic, rejected the bill at a closed-door meeting on October 9.

“It was inexpedient for the Council to approve the bill at that time,” Valyantsina Leanenka, a member of the International Affairs Committee, explained to BelaPAN. According to her, it is most likely that the House of Representative will take a vote on the bill on December 12. The text of the agreement has not undergone change, she said.

The accord was signed at the Commission’s office in Brussels on March 7 by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union’s commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood policy, and Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Varanetski.

Under the agreement, the delegation, its head and members, and their family members living together with them shall enjoy the rights, privileges and immunities provided for by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The European Commission applied to the Belarusian government for permission to open its delegation in the country as far back as 2005. The draft agreement was sent to Minsk at the same time. In April 2007, the Belarusian authorities gave their consent to opening the delegation, and the European Commission responded with sending the draft agreement once again. Afterward, there was no visible progress toward giving the consent a practical implementation. The foreign ministry linked that to the need to complete what was called all necessary internal procedures.

On October 19, 2007, Alyaksandr Lukashenka authorized the draft agreement to be the basis for negotiations about the “institution, privileges and immunities” of the delegation. He empowered Mr. Varanetski to hold the negotiations on behalf of Belarus.

The European Commission has about 120 delegations in third countries and five delegations to international organizations such as the OSCE and the United Nations. Their role is to explain and implement the EU’s policies; analyze and report on the policies and developments of the countries/institutions to which they are accredited; and conduct negotiations in accordance with a given mandate.