Belarus’ FM commented on Romanian side’s refusal to allow Belarusian delegation to participate in OSCE PA in Bucharest

Belarus’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz commented on the refusal of the Romanian side to grant the right of entry to the Belarusian delegation to participate in the 31st annual session of the OSCE PA in Bucharest, sb.by reports with reference to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s press service

According to Anatoly Glaz, Bucharest’s actions lead to even greater disunity in the context of an already serious escalation of the military-political situation in the OSCE region.

“Unfortunately, such illegal steps on the part of a group of Western countries have already become a definite system. An OSCE participating state that assumes responsibility for hosting the annual session of the OSCE PA is obliged to observe the principle of openness of events. This is even fixed in the 2016 Resolution on Unrestricted Access of Members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Attending Official OSCE Events and Other Parliamentary Activities, which declares the need to promote a full-fledged inclusive inter-parliamentary dialogue. So, the presence at the Assembly is the legitimate right of our parliamentarians. However, a group of countries is deliberately making a decision aimed at undermining the foundations of the organisation’s functioning and deliberately degrading the very idea of creating the OSCE. These countries show us that they do not intend to comply with any rules that create even minimal discomfort for them.”

Mr. Glaz summarised that such actions, in turn, negate the role of the Parliamentary Assembly as the key OSCE forum for inter-parliamentary co-operation, leading to the incapacity of the OSCE mechanisms, “In this situation, the statement of our parliamentarians about the refusal to recognise the decisions of this session is quite justified.”

The meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is being held from June 29th to July 3rd in Bucharest. The entry restrictions affected all members of the Belarusian and Russian delegations, parliamentarians and technical staff.