Pavel Latushka: Presence of the Belarusian Delegation in PACE Provides the Opportunity to Influence Its Decisions and Raise Belarusian Issues

Pavel Latushka. Source: racyja.com 

Original article: racyja.com

"This is a unique situation: thanks to the fact that Belarusians voted and elected the Coordination Council in 2024, we gained the opportunity to have our own official delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), as well as to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe — consisting of 6 people each. They work at all sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress. Effectively, representatives from more than 40 European countries are present there,"  noted Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet and member of the Coordination Council delegation to PACE, in an interview with Radio Racyja.

Pavel Latushka noted: "This provides the opportunity to influence the decisions adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and also to raise Belarusian issues."

The member of the Coordination Council delegation to PACE recalled that during the last session in which he participated, a special resolution was adopted concerning the security of the European continent:

"In the memorandum to this resolution, it will be written in red letters, as a recurring theme, that the Special Tribunal on the responsibility for the aggression against Ukraine is created to hold Russian and Belarusian representatives accountable specifically for crimes against Ukraine. It also contains words stating that Russia's military aggression, carried out with the participation of the Lukashenko regime, has led to the increased brutality of these two regimes."

"I am citing these quotes because now there will effectively be no document in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe regarding the situation in Ukraine that does not mention the role of Lukashenko. This is due to the fact that in April 2025, we managed to include in a PACE resolution the specific phrasing that the so-called 'top military-political leadership of Belarus led by Lukashenko' bears responsibility for the crimes of aggression," Pavel Latushka concluded.

Pavel Latushka also emphasized that at the moment, the NAM (National Anti-Crisis Management) continues to collect evidence for the Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Furthermore, Pavel Latushka noted that this issue is his area of responsibility within the United Transitional Cabinet, and as a delegate to PACE, he will constantly raise this issue before colleagues from the parliaments of the Council of Europe member states.

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