Belarus in PACE: Why This Is a Historic Breakthrough and What the Coordination Council Elections Have to Do With It
- Pavel Latushka
- Apr 24
- 2 min read
Many have heard the abbreviation PACE, including in the context of the official delegation of the Coordination Council now working there. But what actually stands behind these four letters and why does it matter so much to all of us?
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is one of the continent's largest political platforms, uniting parliamentarians from 46 states. It is a body that shapes the European legal framework and adopts the most important political resolutions. These documents set the direction and serve as the legal basis for decisions made by European governments concerning our region.
To get into PACE, Belarus has travelled a very long road.
This is so because Belarus had no full-fledged representation in PACE for decades. In January 1997, PACE stripped Belarus of its "specially invited" status as a country that had deviated from the path of democracy. The reason was that in 1996, Lukashenko held an unconstitutional referendum, through which he concentrated power in his own hands and dissolved the legitimately elected parliament — the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation.
From that moment on, our country's seat there was either empty or attempts were made — unsuccessfully — to fill it with regime appointees. But it was precisely due to the regime's anti-democratic policies that they did not succeed.
But now the situation has changed fundamentally: PACE has established institutional relations with the democratic forces — the Coordination Council. Now in Strasbourg, it is not the lies of Lukashenko regime officials that are heard, but the real voice of society. We are the first country which, without being a member of the organisation, has its own official Coordination Council delegation there, representing society rather than a dictatorship.
How did this become possible?
The key factor is ELECTIONS. The Coordination Council of the 3rd convocation became the first in history to be formed through the direct vote of Belarusian citizens. It was precisely this democratic mandate that became the decisive argument for international recognition. Without elections of this level, such representation in PACE would have been impossible to achieve, and this recognition simply would not have happened.
And now, as members of the Belarusian delegation to PACE, we have the opportunity to work within committees, participate in debates, and contribute to the preparation of documents and decisions on Belarus together with our European colleagues.
We successfully lobbied for the inclusion of Belarus's top military-political leadership in the resolutions on the creation of a Special Tribunal for aggression against Ukraine.
We use this platform for concrete matters: from questions of accountability to resolving issues of legalisation of Belarusians abroad and protection of the rights of political prisoners.
This is not merely a status in international protocol. This is a real instrument of international influence that we have returned to the Belarusian people.
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