EU Presidency expresses concern over OSCE conclusion about Belarus’ elections

The European Union's French presidency has expressed concern about Belarus’ House of Representatives elections and urged Minsk to continue its effort to meet international democratic standards, and to fully cooperate with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in this respect.

The observers representing ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly concluded that the September 23-28 elections fell short of the OSCE’s standards for democratic elections, although there were some minor improvements.

The European Union is concerned by these conclusions, the presidency says in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“The Presidency has also noted the positive developments prior to the elections, particularly with regard to the release of the last political prisoners and the invitation to the OSCE to observe the parliamentary elections,” the statement says.