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Belarusian opposition politicians meet with head of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Working Group on Belarus

Three Belarusian opposition politicians in Stockholm on Monday met with Swedish MP Christian Holm, the newly appointed chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus.

Participating in the meeting were Anatol Lyabedzka, chairman of the United Civic Party (UCP), Alyaksey Yanukevich, chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, and Yury Hubarevich, deputy chairman of the Movement for Freedom.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly currently forms a new Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, which is why the Group does not yet have an action plan, Mr. Lyabedzka was quoted as saying by the UCP press office. However, it is clear that the Group's strategy will depend to a large extent on the stance of its chairman, he said. Mr. Holm described his service in this position as a new experience and stressed that the Group should stay constantly in touch with Belarus' civil society to be as efficient as possible, he said.

According to Mr. Lyabedzka, there is every reason to believe that securing freedom for the Belarusian political prisoners and ensuring democratic elections in the country will be the top priorities for the Group. Mr. Holm hopes that his new position will allow him to visit Belarus much more frequently and does not rule out that he will ask for an opportunity to meet with political prisoners during his first visit, he said.

Christian Holm was appointed to chair the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus on October 15.

Mr. Holm's predecessor, Uta Zapf of Germany, headed the Group since 2002. In March 2013, she announced her resignation, explaining that she had decided not to run in Bundestag elections scheduled for the fall.

Mr. Holm is known for his severe criticism of the Belarusian government. He was planning to visit Belarus in March 2011 at the invitation of Mr. Yanukevich, but he was denied an entry visa.

Mr. Holm is the author of a resolution on Belarus adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in July 2013. The resolution called on the Belarusian government to release and exonerate all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally.

The resolution deplored the limited cooperation between the Belarusian government and many of the OSCE’s institutions, as well as the limited cooperation with the Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, which had not been invited to visit Minsk since 2010.

Viktar Huminski, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus, subsequently called for the Working Group to be dissolved. He claimed that there for no need for its existence.

The Group was set up in October 1998 in order to assist in the development of democracy in Belarus and facilitate dialogue between the government and opposition forces in the country. //BelaPAN