Belarussian Foreign Ministry criticises PACE resolution

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe takes on great responsibility refusing to co-operate with the Belarussian Parliament and confines this co-operation to contacts with Belarussian political parties and politicized NGOs, reads the statement of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus regarding the adoption of the PACE resolution about this country.

"The Foreign Ministry regrets to note that the PACE continues to treat our country in the Cold War terms, a line which was imposed on it by the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE," the statement says.

The Belarussian Foreign Ministry believes that, "when talking about the lack of democracy in Belarus," the Parliamentary Assembly turned a blind eye on the situation in some member-states of the Council of Europe, where democratic and European standards are completely absent, terrorism is encouraged, and asylum is provided for terrorists. It is noted at the same time that Belarus is not a member-state of the Council of Europe.

However, the Foreign Ministry of Belarus is sure that admission of the country to the Council of Europe as soon as possible will remove the mistrust which this European organisation is still feeling toward Belarus.