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Belarus does not need OSCE, Lukashenka says

Belarus does not need the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Alyaksandr Lukashenka told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

"Such an organization would be necessary if it abided by what was declared at its inception," Mr. Lukashenka said. "The thing is that both the West and America were interested in the OSCE when they were up against the powerful Soviet Union. Today they don't need this organization. And we need it least of all, considering that it doesn't perform its functions. This is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. However, the OSCE doesn't deal with security and its 'cooperation' is aimed at division and strife."

According to Mr. Lukashenka, the observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for Belarus' September 23 House of Representatives elections came to the country with a ready-made report. The same happened during the parliamentary elections in Ukraine last month, he said.

That is why Belarus, Russia and other CIS countries continue to insist that the OSCE should devise uniform standards to assess elections, Mr. Lukashenka said. There are no such standards at present, which is why OSCE/ODIHR and CIS observers make diametrically opposite conclusions, he said.

The OSCE applies double and triple standards to elections in different countries, Mr. Lukashenka said.

Western powers are critical of the Belarusian government because they do not like its independent policies and will not calm down until "their people" come to power, he said.

By contrast, Belarus is not concerned about elections in EU countries or the United States, Mr. Lukashenka said. "We mind our own business," he said. "As for them, let them elect. After all, the whole world is already laughing at their elections."

Widespread reports of election frauds prompted international observers to declare undemocratic all parliamentary and presidential elections held in Belarus in the last 16 years, including September's parliamentary poll.

Competition was limited and many OSCE commitments on citizens' democratic rights to associate, to stand as candidates and to express themselves freely were not respected in the House of Representatives elections in Belarus, OSCE observers said in a preliminary report issued on September 24.

The elections were not administered in an impartial manner and the complaints and appeals process did not guarantee effective remedy, the report said. //BelaPAN