Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer,...

Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, asked about the chances of Belarus joining the Council of Europe, expressed hopes that "a democratisation process will start" in that country.
"Unfortunately, I cannot so far see any concrete, positive signs," he said. "We have offered the Belarussians a helping hand. We expect from them a moratorium on the death penalty, something that Russia, Ukraine and Turkey have done.