Schwimmer says Belarus far from CE standards
By Kseniya Kaminskaya and Konstantin Kizhel

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 15, 2004 Saturday

MOSCOW, May 15 — Belarus is far from the Council of Europe’s standards
and its admission to this organisation will not be considered in the
near future, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Walter
Schwimmer, said.

He told journalists on Saturday that there were so signs indicating
that Belarus was moving along the road of democracy and human rights.

Schwimmer said one of his tasks as the Secretary-General of the
Council of Europe had been to bring Belarus as close to CE membership
as possible but failed.

He hopes that this question may be resolved in the next five years.

In his words, in order to achieve this goal it is necessary to
strengthen the role of parliament in the country, ensure the freedom
of speech and complete the investigation of abductions.

Speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh, Schwimmer said Azerbaijan and Armenia
had been admitted to the Council of Europe at the same time so that
they could reach agreement on this enclave.

He expressed the hope that the presidents of the two countries will
resolve the conflict through dialogue.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress