Lukashenka urges OSCE PA to contribute to solution of problems in Europe

Alyaksandr Lukashenka called on the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to contribute to the solution of problems in Europe while he was speaking at the opening ceremony for the Assembly’s 26th Annual Session in Minsk on July 5.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to host the largest parliamentary forum in Europe,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “It is an effective platform for expanding cooperation and strengthening security in the region.”

Unfortunately, Europe currently faces problems that did not emerge on the European continent, Mr. Lukashenka said.

“The consequences of these problems may not be connected with Europe but we find ourselves at the epicenter of these problems,” he said. “For example, there is a war which gave rise to a negative process in the Middle East. This land is not too far away but it is not ours. But who has to mainly deal with the consequences of this war? Illegal migration which gives rise to terrorism and so on?”

Even the recent presidential election in the United States had an impact on the European continent, Mr. Lukashenka noted.

According to him, relations between the United States and Europe are being “reformatted” at the moment.

“This is a difficult process,” he said. “I am sure that Europeans and Americans will overcome the negative nature of their problems, but the fact remains that these problems exist.”

By ignoring problems in Europe such as problems regarding the Republic of Transdniestria and the Nagorno-Kapabakh region, “we got our own conflict at the center of Europe, in Ukraine,” Mr. Lukashenka said.

“The time has come to pay the closest attention to the problems that cannot be ignored any more,” he said. “These are problems regarding illegal migration, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, air pollution, climate change and many others.”

“If we do not solve these problems in time, they will give rise to more serious problems which will either be impossible to solve or will require huge sums of money for their solution,” he said.