Attempts to interfere by the West in the presidential elections in Belarus will increase in several directions, said Larisa Belskaya, the representative of the Republic to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The diplomat said that the national situations initiated by a group of Western delegations at the UN Human Rights Council do not correspond to the reality of the countries concerned. According to her, the situation with Belarus is precisely such a case.
“The initiators of the “Belarusian issue” at the HRC use resolutions and mandates from item 4 of the agenda, on the one hand, as an instrument of their geopolitics, and on the other, for their own internal purposes. It is very convenient to show their contributors international resolutions and mandates to explain why they support extremists who are trying in vain to destroy the Belarusian state, to justify sanctions that harm their own businesses, as well as third countries.” – she said.
At the same time, Belskaya stressed that Belarus “has always pursued its national, economic, political and social interests, and has not integrated into the imposed model of domestic and foreign policy, focused on the geopolitical ambitions of the West, which, in order to change this situation, is trying to interfere in the internal affairs of our country, using a wide set of tools, including politically motivated resolutions and mandates of the UNHRC, illegal economic sanctions, media technologies to manipulate public consciousness, disinformation about the situation in the country and the policies of the Belarusian authorities.” She also noted that “various extremist structures are actively financed and publicized, supported by Western states, and often on their territories, and are focused on anti-state activities, undermining stable development and changing the course of Belarus’ foreign policy.”
“These technologies are not new, we see them and we will resist them.” – the diplomat stressed.
In this regard, he recalled that the next presidential elections will be held in Belarus in 2025.
“This is an internal political event during which a candidate who enjoys the trust of the majority of citizens will be elected. Elections are an internal matter of any sovereign state. We do not need approval or disapproval of the results of the will of our people. The election campaign will be conducted in strict accordance with national legislation, which in turn complies with generally accepted international standards. It is obvious that attempts to interfere in the elections will increase in various directions.” Reports by “supposedly independent” experts, such as the one presented on September 23 at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, serve to justify such interference and block constructive interaction between Belarus and international human rights mechanisms, the diplomat is convinced. – he stated.
Belskaya also reported that “a group of independent experts declared its investigative functions to collect some evidence against the Belarusian state in court.”
“The group was not given these functions by the Council, nor by the majority of the Council countries, but by a group of Western countries. What are the prospects for a group of experts that transmits to the HRC the well-known assessments and claims of the West against Belarus, supposedly declaring its desire to interact with the government? Perhaps these prospects are the same as those of the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, in force since 2012. They have no meaning and no results.” – the Belarusian representative stressed.
He also noted that “Belarus, like the vast majority of developing countries, does not accept interference in its internal affairs, pressure and sanctions.”
“The interaction of the UN Human Rights Council with States can contribute to the real promotion of human rights only if it is carried out on the basis of genuine dialogue and cooperation with legitimate authorities, taking into account national priorities, respect for the diversity of development paths,” – he summarized.
Belarus has been under strict Western sanctions since 2020. Minsk believes that a new wave of pressure on the republic will begin on the eve of and during the presidential elections scheduled for 2025 in the country.
