The present situation impedes Belarus's integration...

The present situation impedes Belarus's integration into Europe, said Wolfgang Behrendt, rapporteur on Belarus in the political committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said in Minsk.
The PACE understands Belarus's problems and wishes to arrive at solutions as soon as possible, said Behrendt in his opening speech at a Belarus-PACE parliamentary seminar on the development of democracy in Belarus.
Cooperation with the PACE is of "primary importance" to the National Assembly [parliament], said Vadzim Papow, chairman of the Assembly's House of Representatives (lower chamber).
Papow said that participants in the seminar would discuss the issues that could directly influence the restoration of Belarus's PACE special guest status. He was referring to the expansion of the parliament's functions, the abolition of the death penalty, the democratisation of the media law, the establishment of an ombudsman's office for human rights and the building of a civil society.