Denis Karas: The Republic of Belarus attaches particular importance to strengthening parliamentary solidarity

“The Republic of Belarus attaches special importance to enhancing parliamentary solidarity and unity in assessing key international political developments and coordinating efforts amid ongoing unfriendly and unconstructive actions of some Western countries,” said Denis Karas, a member of the permanent delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and a member of Standing Commission on Industrial, Fuel and Energy Complex, Transportation and Communication of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Belarus, speaking remotely at a coordination meeting of the heads of parliamentary delegations of the CSTO Member States to OSCE PA.

He drew attention of meeting participants to the fact that a report of Margaret Söderfeld, President of the OSCE PA, at the forthcoming OSCE PA Winter Meeting notes the aggravation of the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus. “In this regard, we would like to inform our opponents of the conclusive results of the inclusive sociopolitical dialogue On the Course and Expected Results of the Republican Referendum on Making Amendments and Addenda to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, to be held on February 27, 2022,” Denis Karas noted.

“We reiterate our commitment to a direct dialogue, based solely on the principles of equality and respect for the parties,” said Denis Karas.

The member of the Permanent Delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly stressed: “We deem it necessary to continue the exchange of opinions and coordination of positions during the meetings before the main events of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.”

Denis Karas said that the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE PA intends to continue the work on putting forward the additional draft OSCE PA resolution on preventing drug use among young people, announced in 2021. At that time, it was not reviewed during the session held remotely in 2021.

“The spread of drug addiction remains one of the most acute social problems in the world,” said Denis Karas. “Moreover, nine out of ten drug addicts are practically incurable.” “Children and teenagers are increasingly using drugs. This calls for additional measures to address and prevent the problem,” he said, noting that although the OSCE devotes a lot of attention to transnational challenges such as drug trafficking, including drug use among children and young people, its Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Ministerial Council have never considered the link between prevention and young people in their decisions or resolutions.