Visit of the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Belarus to the French Republic

     On 10 — 14 May 2010 the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Belarus headed by Ms Nina Mazay, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic for Foreign Affairs and National Security, Head of the working group of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on cooperation with the Parliament of the French Republic, paid a visit to France. Other members of the delegation were Mr Aleksandr Yakobson, member of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic for Regional Policy and Local Self-Government, and Mr Anatoly Glaz, Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives for Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media.

     On 11 May the Belarusian parliamentarians had meetings with Mr Bernard Accoyer, President of the French National Assembly, Mr Jérôme Lambert, Head of the of the “France-Belarus” Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the members of this group, as well as with Mr Pierre Lellouche, Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the French Republic. The participants of the meetings discussed the state and the prospects of Belarusian-French relations, topical issues of interaction between the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and European parliamentary structures, “Belarus — EU” cooperation.

     The members of the delegation visited the French National Commission for Informatics and Liberty and the publishing house of one of the leading French newspapers – “La Croix”, as well as the Court of Audit of the French Republic, where they got acquainted with its activities, particularly with the peculiarities of monitoring financial and economic activities of state bodies and other organizations in France. Special attention was paid to the interaction of the Court of Audit and the Parliament of the French Republic.

     In addition to that the Belarusian parliamentarians visited the Rheims region to get acquainted with the work of local authorities and discuss the prospects of regional cooperation.

     On 18 May the members of the parliamentary delegation will take part in a press-conference in Minsk to answer the questions of mass-media.