Euronest PA members to discuss possibility of Belarus` involvement

Chisinau, 26 February. The possible participation of Belarusian representatives in the EU-Neighborhood East Parliamentary Assembly (Euronest PA) will be discussed at a meeting on April 1, Dumitru Diacov, honorary chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, told a group of Belarusian journalists in Chisinau on Wednesday.

The politician said that the meeting would be held in the framework of a Euronest PA session. The meeting`s agenda has yet to be finalized, he added.

Mr. Diacov, a former speaker of the Moldovan parliament, suggested that Belarus` legislature should be represented in the Euronest PA.

"It makes no sense to keep Belarus at a distance, people should meet and get to know each other, communicate, come to Brussels and then go back home and pass these thoughts," he said.

Mr. Diacov said that Minsk could host a conference that would be attended by a Euronest PA delegation.

"I am the most pro-Belarusian person in the Euronest today because there is much that connects me with Belarus," said the politician. "I believe that even in a legislature where members have been appointed there are people who think a bit different. They should not be isolated irrevocably, these people need to be identified and talked to."

The Euronest PA was expected to consist of 60 members of the European Parliament and a 10-member delegation from each of the six post-Soviet states participating in the European Union`s Eastern Partnership program, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The Belarusian authorities have rejected a composition formula whereby the country’s delegation to the Euronest PA would include five members of the House of Representatives and five opposition politicians.
Belarusian lawmakers are currently not invited to attend Euronest PA sessions.