Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Wednesday that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) turned down Minsk's invitation to discuss participation in observing the referendum on amendments to the Belarusian constitution scheduled for February 27
MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2022) Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Wednesday that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) turned down Minsk's invitation to discuss participation in observing the referendum on amendments to the Belarusian constitution scheduled for February 27.
"The Copenhagen Document does not impose obligations on OSCE member states to invite the ODIHR (OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) to observe the referendum, and ... a few months ago, we worked out this issue with our counterparties representing the OSCE countries," Makei said at a press conference.
According to the minister, Minsk invited the OSCE countries to come to Belarus to discuss the participation of the OSCE-ODIHR in monitoring the referendum.
"We were told that we (OSCE representatives) are in contact with the ODIHR leadership, and they do not intend to participate in observing the referendum," the top diplomat said.
He claimed that OSCE-ODIHR election observation missions' reports are written in advance, and that they are politicized, so it makes no sense to invite such structures to observe the elections if it is clear what their response will be.
The 1990 CSCE/OSCE Copenhagen Document contains a number of human rights and freedoms, including provisions concerning national minorities.
