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PRESS RELEASE
MFA Spokesman Comments on Statements
Made by the Latvian Foreign Minister and by Senator McCain
On 23 August, Andrei Savinykh, spokesman of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Belarus commented on the statements made at the joint
press conference of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Artis Pabriks
and the US Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain held at the
“Grand Palace” Hotel in Riga on 21 August.
A. Savinykh emphasized that Latvia’s willingness to share its
experience in carrying out democratic reforms with Belarus, as proposed by
the Latvian Foreign Minister, could be considered a constructive step. At
the same time, however, it is worth reflecting on how much this step would
correspond to commonly recognized international standards. The state with
nearly a quarter of population deprived of citizenship and with
representatives of national minorities facing serious problems in studying
in their native language is hard to be considered an authoritative expert in
democratic reforms.
On the other hand, Belarus has been open to interaction on
various aspects of the development of civil society with such cooperation
already being carried out actively, including Belarus’ invitation for the
OSCE ODIHR and other international organizations to send observers to the
forthcoming October parliamentary elections. This is a clear demonstration
of Belarus’ openness and its willingness to conduct a constructive dialogue
with all interested parties.
Commenting on Senator McCain’s statement, A. Savinykh noted
that its nature and spirit contradict the Senator’s often declared intention
to facilitate the development of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.
“It is impossible to consider the provocative and insulting tone of his
statement as an invitation to a constructive dialogue. It would be more
honest to recognize that Senator McCain is just trying to create information
opportunities for himself, targeted mainly at the American public. He seems
to believe that this will give him another chance to once again remind of
himself in the interests of the election campaign in the United States”, the
Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman concluded. |
