In this regard, the diplomat reluctantly commented on the information that the OSCE ODIHR has no plans to monitor presidential elections in Belarus. He expressed hope that the decision still “will be reviewed”.
According to him, immediately after the registration of candidates for President of the country’s foreign Ministry sent invitations to the elections the Office for democratic institutions and human rights OSCE, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai cooperation organization. “We will not step back down from his assertions and commitments, including within the framework of the OSCE,” he said.
Recalling that Belarus has never held an election without the participation of the expert community, the Eyes confirmed that this year the official Minsk “was originally committed to invite observers of the OSCE ODIHR. This was repeatedly stated publicly. This position was made known to the Western partners, and also to the leadership of the Bureau and personally to Ingibjorg Gisladottir. We are fully transparent in this context, and all this can be checked,” – said the representative of the foreign Ministry.
moreover, he said, it is expected that in the coming days, the Parliament of Belarus has sent invitations to his colleagues in the SS of the Union of Belarus and Russia, CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
the foreign Ministry of Belarus was given to understand that “the situation with the spread of coronavirus infection brought about changes in many spheres, including in the practice of ODIHR’s election observation”. In this regard, in Minsk, carefully analyzed the experience of other countries which have held elections in recent months.
“In the current special circumstances in most, if not all cases, ODIHR deployed a special monitoring mission, consisting of several expert” – drew the attention of the Eye. Therefore, the diplomat said, “and we have international observers, and other participants of the electoral process, it will be necessary to adhere to certain precautionary epidemiological measures, which were developed jointly with the Ministry of health and the CEC’s recommendations of who.”
