Press Office
On 24 February 2021, the Chairperson of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives on International Affairs, the Head of the Delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE PA Andrei Savinykh took part in the meeting of the OSCE PA’s Standing Committee in the framework of the OSCE PA Winter Meeting, which takes place in a virtual format from 24 — 26 February 2021.
The heads of national delegations of the OSCE participating States and the members of the Bureau heard the reports of the OSCE PA leadership and discussed activities and priorities for the Assembly, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OSCE PA
President Lord Peter Bowness (United Kingdom) with regret noted that it will
not be possible to meet in-person for the Annual Session, which was scheduled
to take place in Bucharest in July 2021. In this regard, the Standing Committee
adopted the proposed amendments to the OSCE PA Rules of Procedure that would
allow Assembly Officers elections to take place remotely.
Reinhold
Lopatka (Austria), Chair of the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Committee on Countering
Terrorism, provided an overview of the activities of the Committee. The
situation of illegal migration in the OSCE region was presented by Margareta Cederfelt
(Sweden), Chair of the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Committee on Migration.
The
Standing Committee also heard reports by the OSCE PA Special Representatives on
Anti-Semitism, Disinformation and Propaganda, Fighting Corruption, Human Trafficking,
Arctic Issues, Mediterranean Affairs, South Caucasus, Central and Eastern
Europe, who shared information about their work.
During the
meeting, Andrei Savinykh briefed the members of the Standing Committee on the
current internal political situation in the Republic of Belarus.
Other
topics of discussion included upcoming Assembly events in 2021.