OSCE Secretary General and ODIHR Director meet with President, other high-level officials on Belarus visit

MINSK, 16 June 2015 – Strengthening OSCE engagement with Belarus was the focus of a two-day visit to Minsk by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Michael Georg Link which concluded today.

Zannier and Link met President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Viktor Guminsky and other members of the National Assembly. Zannier also met with Defence Minister Andrei Ravkov.

“I am pleased that we are launching a new package of projects in Belarus in all three OSCE dimensions of security”, the OSCE Secretary General said. These projects include, among others, assisting Belarus to dispose of highly toxic liquid rocket fuel components; building capacity to prevent floods through ecosystem restoration; and establishing mentoring networks for the economic empowerment of women.

“I look forward to productive cooperation and engagement with our Belarusian partners in all relevant areas,” he said.

ODIHR Director Link added, “I am pleased that the new OSCE package includes several projects in the human dimension, and ODIHR looks forward to working with Belarus on their implementation.”

Zannier also discussed the crisis in and around Ukraine and praised Belarus’ support for efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. “I commend Belarus’ ongoing commitment to facilitate the political process by hosting meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and its Working Groups.” Three of the four Working Groups are meeting today in Minsk.

The ODIHR Director held a separate meeting with the Head of the Central Electoral Commission, Lidia Yermoshina. “ODIHR is ready to deploy an election observation mission for the upcoming presidential elections and looks forward to a timely invitation,” he said.