UN Security Council Meeting On Belarus To Be Convened Friday On Estonian Request - Reports

HELSINKI/UN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2020) An extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council on Belarus will be convened on Friday on Estonia's initiative, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said at a meeting with former Belarusian presidential contender Valery Tsepkalo and his wife Veronika, Estonian broadcasting portal ERR reported.

"He [Tsepkalo] presented a number of specific proposals - what needs to be done to support civil society in Belarus. In particular, to support young people, so that peaceful protesters have an alternative if they come under pressure from the police," Reinsalu told ERR.

"I also informed him that on the initiative of Estonia and with the support of states sympathetic to it, an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council will be convened on Friday, and at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, Estonia will, of course, also raise the issue of the political crisis in Belarus," he said.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Mission of Niger, presiding over the UN Security Council, told Sputnik that they had not received requests to hold a meeting on Belarus on Friday. The Estonian Permanent Mission to the UN also indicated that they did not plan such an event for Friday. At the same time, an urgent debate on the situation in Belarus is expected in the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.