MINSK, March 1. /TASS/. The presidium of the Council of the Republic of the Belarusian National Assembly on Wednesday said European officials and lawmakers don’t listen to their people as they promote a "war agenda."
The presidium made the remarks in a statement following a session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
"The growing wave of rallies in European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France is evidence that European officials and parliamentarians do not hear their people when they promote the agenda of war in international and inter-parliamentary organizations," the document said.
Winter session
The 22nd winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held on February 23-24 in Vienna. Some delegates left the meeting hall immediately after Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Andrey Savinykh, who heads the delegation of the republic to the OSCE PA, started to speak. A day earlier, the Ukrainian delegation tried to disrupt the speech of the representatives of Belarus.
The statement of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament said that "during the session of the OSCE PA in Vienna, the majority of Western representatives and parliamentarians of national delegations, the leadership of the assembly spoke in support of continuing the war in Ukraine and increasing arms supplies."
The members of the presidium of the Council of the Republic "strongly condemn this strategy, which can’t lead to a peaceful settlement."
"The actions of Western politicians don’t meet the interests of ordinary people, create systemic social and economic problems," the document stated.
Call for dialogue
Following the February session, the Russian and Belarusian delegations to the OSCE PA adopted a joint statement calling for the preservation of this inter-parliamentary platform for dialogue with the West in the future.
"We emphasize the danger of the approaches of the supporters of the escalation of the conflict and urge them not to forget the history and tragic lessons of mankind in order to protect present and future generations from the threats of even more terrible and destructive wars," the Belarusian parliamentarians said in the statement.
The presidium of the Council of the Republic urged "the parliaments of all countries, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to make significant efforts to ensure a broad constructive dialogue on international platforms, the development of friendly relations among nations and the implementation of initiatives in the interests of peace and security."
Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Belarus and Russia should be present at international platforms, despite pressure and provocations. In his opinion, Minsk and Moscow should "follow a path of their own," while unfriendly forces "should feel free to scream."