On 25 September 2015 IVO president Grigorij Mesežnikov participated in panel discussion Belarus: “Elections” Amidst the Continuing Human Dimension Crisis, held as a side event at the of OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. Panel discussion was organized by the foundation Charta 97 within the project The Answer to the Eurasian Challenge for Eastern Europe, supported by International Visegrad Fund.

Discussion was attended by Mikalai Statkevich, presidential candidate in 2010, Andrei Sannikov, coordinator of the civil campaign "European Belarus", Yuri Džibladze, representative of the Foundation Freedom Files and Centre for Development of Democracy Human Rights (Russia) and Jacek Kucharzcyk, president of the Institute of Public Affairs (Warsaw). Discussion was moderated by Pavol Demeš (Slovakia, GMF).

Participants debated the unfavorable political situation, during which a preparation for the October presidential elections in Belarus is ongoing. They pointed out the worrying trends in the area of democracy and human rights. Politicians and experts have urged the European Union to implement towards Belarus the policy based on system of democratic principles and values – i.e. to support civil society actors and democratic forces, and to insist on continuation of punitive measures against the government if the situation will not starts to change for the better.

Program of the event (pdf)

Foto: charter97.org