Belarusian lawmaker denied visa to Vienna for OSCE PA session

MINSK (Monitoring Desk): The chairman of the commission on international affairs of the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament, Andrei Savinykh, who was supposed to personally attend the OSCE PA session in Vienna, told RIA Novosti that he was denied a visa.

“As the chairman of the Belarusian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, my trip to Vienna was planned, where I would have to present Belarus’s position on topical issues on the agenda at the session of this organization. But yesterday we received information that a visa was denied,” said Savinykh RIA Novosti. He explained that the session is being held in a combined mode, but he, as the head of the Belarusian parliamentary delegation, had to personally attend the session and make a statement on the latest events, including those around Belarus .

The deputy said that the Austrian embassy in Belarus does not issue visas, so it was proposed to contact the Latvian consulate in Vitebsk to resolve this issue. According to him, as a result, a visa application was refused. Moreover, Savinykh continued, it was reported that Poland had been entered into the Schengen information system with the aim of refusing entry.

“Poland, within the framework of the Schengen zone procedures, included me in the“ black list, ”the interlocutor stated. He clarified that the specific reason for the refusal to enter was not noted, but the document received contains a list of grounds on which entry may be generally prohibited.

“I cannot admit that I could have been suspected of providing false information in the questionnaire. I also consider it impossible to doubt that I will leave the Schengen area before the expiration of the visa period. public order or internal security “,” you pose a threat to international relations of the states – participants of the Schengen agreement”, – said the parliamentarian.

In this regard, he drew attention to the fact that in his speech at the OSCE PA session he wanted to raise questions about “the involvement of the special services of a number of states, including Poland, in the operation to seize power in the Republic of Belarus through the scenario of a color revolution.”

According to the deputy, he also planned to touch upon such a topic as the interest of a number of countries in “street democracy”, when a small part of the population strives to impose their opinion on the majority, which creates risks of destruction of the social structure of society and threatens the security of all countries. “Why is an unorganized crowd, ruled by someone unknown, given the right to speak on behalf of the people and disorganize the situation in their own countries?” – said the deputy.

Thus, Savinykh on July 2 takes part in a meeting of the OSCE PA General Committee on Political Affairs and Security in the framework of the 29th annual session of the OSCE PA in the format of videoconference. “Without any doubt, today we can state one thing: any documents, any issues that can be considered on the topic of the Republic of Belarus, are discredited, since the necessary conditions for the participation of our delegation have not been created,” Savinykh emphasized, commenting on the situation with the visa refusal.

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