On Signature by Belarus of the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption at the Council of Europe

23 January 2014

23-01-2014

On 23 January 2014, a ceremony of signature by Belarus of the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption took place at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg, France. S.E. Pavel Latushka, Ambassador of Belarus to France, signed the document on behalf of the country.

By signing the document the country takes yet another step to expand its cooperation with foreign partners on combatting corruption and benefit from the expert potential of the Council of Europe with a view to further raising the anticorruption capabilities of the national law-enforcement authorites.

The accession to the Additional Protocol is an important element of the ongoing constructive cooperation in the framework of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe. Its full-fledged member Belarus became in 2012 after it had ratified the Council of Europe civil and criminal law conventions on corruption.

In 2013, Belarus carried out a comprehensive work of analyzing and implementing the GRECO recommendations following the assessment by the Group in 2012 of the situation in terms of combatting corruption in the country. Belarus submitted its compliance report to the GRECO Secretariat in December 2013.

After the ceremony, Ambassador Latushka had a conversation with the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Ms Gabriela Battaini-Dragoni during which the interlocutors discussed the current state and the future of the relations between Belarus and the Council of Europe.

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