Mr Yevgeny Smirnov took part in the meeting of the PACE Political Affairs Committee On 17 March 2009 Mr Yevgeny Smirnov, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus for Legislation and State Administration, Deputy Head of the  Delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus contacting the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), took part in the meeting of the PACE Political Affairs Committee in Paris as the head of the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Belarus. Mr Anatoly Glaz, Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives for Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media, was another member of the parliamentary delegation. The central item for discussion at the meeting was the “Situation in Belarus” draft report by Mr Andrea Rigoni — PACE Rapporteur on Belarus.
Mr Yevgeny Smirnov underlined in his speech that the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was interested in the development of full-scale cooperation with the PACE based on mutual respect and equality principles.
The Belarusian parliamentarians had a meeting with Mr Roland Galarag, Continental Europe Director of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of France, members of the “France-Belarus” parliamentary friendship group and its head — Mr Jérôme Lambert. The sides discussed the prospects of Belarus’ cooperation with the European Union and the Council of Europe, bilateral inter-parliamentary cooperation, the visit of the French parliamentary delegation to the Republic of Belarus scheduled for this year and outlined concrete steps in the cooperation intensification process. |
