Andrea Rigoni, rapporteur on Belarus of the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), reports the importance of renewing PACE-Belarus dialogue

Andrea Rigoni, rapporteur on Belarus of the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), reports the importance of renewing PACE-Belarus dialogue when meeting the Chairman of the National Assembly’s House of Representatives, Vladimir Andreichenko

Mr. Rigoni remarked that the previous visit of the rapporteur of the Council of Europe took place five years ago. “It’s a very important event for our organisation because it means that we are resuming dialogue. I sincerely hope for co-operation.”

The rapporteur also noted that PACE is the oldest organisation not only in Europe but also in the world and unites 47 countries. “It represents wider Europe from Reykjavik to Vladivostok. Frankly speaking, it’s unclear to me why Belarus is not a member of the Council of Europe,” remarked Mr. Rigoni. “If we look at the geographical map, we will see that Belarus is in the centre of this wider Europe, and its absence in the organisation can be viewed as an unfilled space in the geographical map of Europe. We’re here because we would like to have a clear view of the situation.”