Belorussian Opposition Invited to EC Parliamentary Assembly

The Belorussian opposition has received an invitation to participate in a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, reported Belorussian non-governmental radio station Ratsia yesterday. As Deputy Chairman of the Narodnaya Gramada social democratic party Vladimir Nistyuk, a delegation member, said, the three-member delegation would raise the issue of the OSCE group of consultants and observers currently working in Belarus. The Assembly session that will open in Strasburg on April 22 has no Belorussian issue on the agenda. The delegation of Belarus, nevertheless, plans to take advantage of its participation in the session to draw Europe's attention to the political situation in Belarus, especially in the light of the National Assembly tackling the bill concerning information security and mass media. Belarus's Press Minister Mikhail Podgainy presented the media bill at the last Parliamentary session. He then promised to send the bill for international expertise. It has not been done yet.