Opinions & Interviews

Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that Minsk hosted the meeting of the CEI Parliamentary Committee which was attended by representatives of 12 states, including the European Union. This is the maximum number of countries that have ever participated in the CEI spring event. The speaker believes that this is a very good sign. “Belarus is turning into an integration platform for discussing the issues on the European agenda,” he said.

He said that the CEI Parliamentary Committee adopted two important documents. One of them suggests amending the charter documents of the CEI.

The speaker also recalled that Belarus is serving as co-chairman of the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) till September 2017. In the second half of May, Minsk hosted the CORLEAP Bureau meeting. Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that it is not easy to hold chairmanship in both the organizations, however the Belarusian side is doing everything possible to cope with the tasks well.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, an event on local self-governance will be organized under the aegis of the Council of Europe in autumn. This will be the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe where Belarus has an invited observer status.

Andrea Wiktorin noted that CEI presidency and CORLEAP co-chairmanship gives Belarus certain advantages. This, to some extent, has an impact on political relations and economic development and also provides opportunities for cooperation.