Council of Europe MPs turn gaze on Belarus

VILNIUS - Belarus was the focus of attention at a meeting of the political affairs committee of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius on Nov. 19 and 20 - the first big event in Lithuania's six-month presidency of the Council of Europe, which began Nov. 8.

"We realize Lithuania, as a member of the Council of Europe and a neighbor of Belarus, has a special mission," Lithuanian Parliamentary Chairman Arturas Paulauskas told the gathering of MPs.

"It would not be right to isolate Belarus from the democratic processes now spreading through Europe. And while real changes there may only come in the longer term, active ties with Belarus could broaden the scope for international influence on the country."

The Parliamentary Assembly is one of the two main statutory organs which comprise the Council of Europe, Europe's foremost democracy and human rights watchdog. The assembly represents the political views of its 43 member states and provides guidelines for the Council of Europe's Council of Ministers.

The Parliament of Belarus was granted "special guest" status at the assembly in 1992, but it was suspended in 1997 after President Alexander Lukashenko forced through constitutional changes to consolidate his rise to power. The procedure for accession of Belarus to the Council of Europe was also frozen.

But in recent months the body has begun speaking of a need to help Belarus break out of its self-imposed isolation.

Unexpectedly, Lukashenko himself encouraged this trend in a "welcome statement" to the Vilnius meeting. "The Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly should no longer be bound by decisions made five years ago, ignoring the real changes in Belarus," the Belarusian president wrote.

He praised a recent political affairs committee decision to allow a Belarusian delegation to sit in on its sessions this year but said a return to special guest status was now needed. "This would be a logical and necessary step in light of the tragic events of Sept. 11 in New York, which were a clear signal to us that common security and prosperity can only be ensured by joint collective efforts," read the statement. "It would be short-sighted to exclude any country on our continent from taking part in Pan-European processes."

During the two-day meeting, Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus Jonas Paslauskas and Vice Foreign Minister Evaldas Ignatavicius led discussions on the present situation in Belarus.

"This was just an exchange of views," Liberal MP Jonas Cekuolis, who heads Lithuania's delegation to the committee, told The Baltic Times. He said it was clear from the discussions that Belarus could regain its special guest status and even become a full member of the Council of Europe, at least over time. But the Belarusian authorities would first have to take appropriate steps.

"The ball is now on Minsk's side of the table," said Cekoulis. "It's wonderful that they want to be part of the family of Europe, but the Belarusian authorities have to take real action in areas like strengthening the role of Parliament, abolishing the death penalty, guaranteeing independence for the media and creating an independent ombudsman."

Lithuania has made regional cooperation and support for the international fight against terrorism the top priorities of its Council of Europe presidency.