Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde will travel to Belarus on November 25 to meet President Alexander Lukashenko and Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Friday
HELSINKI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde will travel to Belarus on November 25 to meet President Alexander Lukashenko and Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Friday."Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit Minsk in Belarus on 25 November together with Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde. The Ministers will meet President Alexander Lukashenko and Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei, as well as opposition and civil society representatives," the ministry said in a press release.
The ministers will discuss cooperation with Belarus, the country's internal situation and its relations with the European Union, as well as important international issues.
The ministry also stressed that, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the parliamentary elections held on November 17 in Belarus were not according to international standards.
Moreover, Haavisto emphasized that Belarus and Finland have good bilateral relations and Finland is eager to promote reforms in Belarus and the country's integration into the EU. Additionally, Haavisto said that Finland wants to promote visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements between the EU and Belarus.
The elections to the lower house were held on November 17 in 110 one-mandate electoral Constituencies. Opposition members were not elected to the lower house of the Belorussian parliament.
On the next day, observers from the OSCE said that Belarus' parliamentary elections did not follow important democratic practice standards, and showed an overall "lack of respect" for democratic principles.
