Comment of the Head of Information Division — Press Secretary of the MFA Andrei Savinykh on Preliminary Results of International Monitoring of Elections to the Chamber of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the Fifth Convocation

24/09/2012

Parliamentary elections took place in Belarus on September 23, 2012. With respect to the will expressed by the Belarusian people and in compliance with the national legislation new Belarusian parliament was elected.

The Belarusian side has invited in advance international observers and provided all necessary conditions for their effective work.

Some 800 observers took part in monitoring the parliamentary elections, including missions from the Commonwealth of the Independent States, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

International observers were offered the possibility to receive complete and objective information on all aspects of the electoral campaign they were interested in.

The Belarusian side studied the preliminary findings and assessments of CIS and OSCE observers that were made public on September 24.

We welcome balanced and objective assessment of the CIS mission which conducted substantial work on monitoring of the electoral process in Belarus.

We regret that the OSCE observer mission, same as in the previous years, could not completely divert from the politicized assessments and conclusions that do not have direct relation to the electoral process.

At the same time we note the readiness for interaction with Belarus, stated by the leadership of the mission, which would be in our common interests.

We underline, that dialog and cooperation, not pressure and sanctions, allow us to move forward in the areas that correspond to the interests of Belarus itself, and to the interests of our partners.