The meeting of the European Parliament delegation with the Belarusian deputies scheduled for 26 February in the House of Representatives was canceled.

Oval Hall of the Government House Belarus

Such a decision was taken at the initiative of the European side.

What happened?

Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs of the House of Representatives Andrei Savinykh commented on the situation:

“Unfortunately, the meeting won’t take place through the fault of the European side. We were ready for the dialogue in the context of the traditional values of Belarus’ foreign policy. We extended our hand for a handshake but received no response”.

The House of Representatives of Belarus

Nevertheless, Belarus will remain committed to the open policy, he noted. Another source in the House of Representatives told BelaPAN that the Belarusian side was notified of the cancellation of the meeting 15 minutes before the start.

“Apparently, at the last moment, the old stereotype popped up. Since the Belarusian parliament had not been recognized, they could not enter its territory. 

This is an exotic behavior that contradicts common sense,” the source said. “To reject dialogue when we have the developed relations with other EU structures on different topics looks irresponsible.”

How does the European Parliament respond?

The press service of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament explained the cancellation by the fact that the Belarusian side did not offer a format that would satisfy the deputies of the European Parliament. The delegation of the European Parliament arrived in Minsk on 24 February.

It consists of the deputy heads of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Belarus, Waldemar Tomaszewski (Lithuania) and Karin Karlsbro (Sweden), as well as Rapporteur on Belarus of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament Petras Austrevicius (Lithuania).

Source:
https://www.svaboda.org/a/30456296.html
https://www.svaboda.org/a/30456041.html