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OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to discuss closure of OSCE Office in Minsk

Belarus' move to close the OSCE Office in Minsk will be discussed at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Winter Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on February 24 and 25, the Assembly's press office told BelaPAN.

The issue is on the agenda of a meeting of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, as the Assembly takes a great deal of interest in post-election developments in Belarus, the press office said.

Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, are expected to attend the meeting.

The Belarusian authorities decided on December 31 not to extend the mandate of the OSCE Office in Minsk, which was established in 1998.

"This is a fully conscious decision based on the absence of objective grounds for the operation of the OSCE mission in Belarus," commented the Belarusian foreign ministry’s spokesman. "This position was repeatedly voiced as part of the Belarusian side’s official statements for many years."