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Foreign Minister Martynaw meets with president of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Belarusian Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw met with the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Riccardo Migliori, in Rome on Wednesday night.

According to the OSCE PA press office, the meeting focused on the international observation of the parliamentary elections to be held in Belarus in late September.

Mr. Migliori expressed hope that the elections would “register significant progress on the democratic process and human rights with respect to recent elections in the country,” the press office said.

Mr. Martynov reportedly assured the OSCE PA president that international observation missions would be able to carry out their duties “in a free manner.”

Italian MP Matteo Mecacci, who chairs the OSCE PA Committee on Democracy, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Questions, has been appointed to head the Assembly’s observation mission for the elections.

No OSCE PA elected official has been granted access to Belarus since 2010, when more than 50 parliamentarians observed a presidential election in the country. The OSCE observation mission for the election, led by British MP Tony Lloyd, was critical of the ballot counting process and the OSCE PA has since repeatedly expressed concern about the freedom of movement in the country and the plight of political prisoners.

"We come into this election observation with an open mind and outstretched hand to our friends in Belarus," Mr. Mecacci said, according to the OSCE PA press office. "It is our hope that we witness marked improvement from the last election and that all people, including some now under house arrest or in prison, will be allowed to participate in the parliamentary election without intimidation or restrictions."

On July 9, the OSCE PA adopted a resolution calling on the Belarusian government to immediately and unconditionally release and exonerate all political prisoners, reinstate the licenses of lawyers who were disbarred for defending opposition and civil society representatives, and allow representatives of the Assembly to visit political prisoners incarcerated in Belarus. //BelaPAN