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Some 320 state enterprises targeted for conversion into stock corporations in 2010

Minsk hopes that the European Parliament will alter its position on the formation of the Belarusian delegation to the EU-Neighborhood East Parliamentary Assembly (EURONEST PA), Syarhey Maskevich, chairman of the House of Representatives’ international affairs committee, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

In its December 17 resolution, the European Parliament warned that "Belarus will be invited to participate fully and on equal basis in the Euronest Assembly – the parliamentary dimension of the Eastern Partnership – as soon as [there are] free and fair elections to the Belarusian Parliament."

Mr. Maskevich pointed out that the House of Representatives would by no means agree to being represented in the EURONEST PA “in a reduced form of a form different from that of other countries.”

“This would run counter to the fundamental principles of the Eastern Partnership and the declarations that have been signed, which clearly state that all participating countries are equal and do not provide for any special status for Belarus,” Mr. Maskevich noted.

“This issue is not a matter of relations between the Belarusian parliament and opposition forces,” he said. “This is a matter of principle. Now that all these documents have been signed, it is improper to talk about the illegitimacy of the Belarusian parliament.”

It was earlier proposed that the EURONEST PA should consist of 60 members of the European Parliament and a 10-member delegation from each of the six post-Soviet states participating in the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Five of the six delegations would consist of members of Parliament, but no decision so far has been made as to who will be on the Belarusian delegation, as the Belarusian legislature is widely believed to have been formed in a way that was far from democratic standards.

Many European politicians, have suggested that opposition forces should necessarily be represented in the Belarusian delegation to the Assembly.