US State Department: free and fair election is what matters most
The third round of the Belarus-US dialogue on human rights is held in Minsk. According to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink, over two days of the visit the delegation met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Uladzimir Makei, Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna, representatives of opposition parties, civil society and human rights activists.
Brink: "During the discussions, the following question was raised: what changes in the field of human rights could make Belarus more in line with OSCE election and other standards, which Belarus had voluntarily assumed? The list is long, but it is well known: the recommendations, provided by the OSCE ODIHR, indicated the need, for example, for transparency of the vote count, the election process, the formation of election commissions to ensure a wider representation. We have stated that this could be the gold standard for elections."
According to representative of the State Department, during the meeting with Lidziya Yarmoshyna, they learned that Belarusian authorities plan to carry out some of the recommendations of the OSCE ODIHR in the course of the current parliamentary elections. The US believes it is a positive sign, but will closely monitor how well they will be performed. For the US, the fact of opposition members getting in the parliament is not the most important.
Brink: "We have stressed during the meeting that it is necessary to create an environment that would ensure free and fair elections. It may be opposition candidates or pro-government ones, but the main thing is the process, not the result. Our position is: we are not talking about specific candidates, but about the process in general."
Bridget Brink recalled that US sanctions against Belarusian companies are now "frozen". If the reaction of the OSCE ODIHR on the process of the parliamentary elections is good, the United States will decide what to do with these sanctions next.
