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Public Advisory Council under aegis of Presidential Administration wants to represent Belarus in Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

The Public Advisory Council under the aegis of the Presidential Administration plans to apply for the right to represent Belarus at the second session of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, on November 18 and 19, BelaPAN reports.

The application will soon be sent to Stefan Fule, the European Union's commissioner for enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Uladzimir Makey, head of the Presidential Administration, said during the Public Advisory Council's meeting on September 29.

It will be pointed out that the Council has weight in Belarusian society, and that the government takes its views into account while making decisions, Mr. Makey said.

Aleh Hulak, chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, noted that the list of the delegates to the forthcoming session might have already been drawn up, and that the Public Advisory Council's application might be rejected for this technical reason. "As a result, one may get the impression that the Forum doesn't want to deal with the Public Advisory Council," Mr. Hulak said.

Despite the possibility of rejection, the application should be submitted to show the readiness of the Public Advisory Council for cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, said Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw.

Applications for participation in the second session of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum were accepted between late May and early July.

Representatives of about 240 non-governmental organizations in the six Eastern Partnership participating countries, namely, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, attended the first session of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in November 2009. Twenty-seven Belarusian NGOs were represented at the meeting.