At the closing meeting of the 11th session of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the seventh convocation, Natalia Kochanova, Chairperson of the Council, called the participation of the CSTO PA and CIS IPA observation missions in monitoring electoral processes in the CSTO Member States an important area of the international activity of Belarus.
"The cooperation on these platforms is successful mainly because we see common goals and common benchmarks and consistently, step by step, move towards their achievement in the spirit of mutual respect, uniting the efforts of parliaments and states. One of the most important tasks of these structures is the rapprochement and harmonization of national legislations," Natalia Kochanova noted.
According to her, the experience of election observation has revealed the rational need to develop and implement a strategy to prevent foreign interference in internal affairs on the basis of a common vision of the future global development. On this premise, the Council of the Republic put forward an initiative to establish a special international institution for the protection of national electoral processes.
"The work of the Belarusian Parliament has contributed to firmly consolidating its reputation as an institution that actively fights against using multiple standards in assessing electoral processes, that makes objective conclusions based on a thorough analysis of the facts and provides methodological assistance in organizing election campaigns," noted Natalia Kochanova.
As you may recall, the observation mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly monitored the preparation and holding of parliamentary elections in the Republic of Belarus on February 24-25, 2024.
The protection of the electoral sovereignty is the most important area of the CSTO PA's activities. On December 5, 2022, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly adopted Recommendations on Improving Legislation to Ensure Protection of Electoral Processes and Sovereignty in the CSTO Member States, which formed the basis of the updated Concept of National Security of the Republic of Belarus.