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OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group does not "channel funds"
MINSK 24 October 2000
MINSK, 24 October 2000 - According to a report of the BelaPAN news agency dated October 19, 2000 President Lukashenko accused the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus of channelling $70,000 to "the opposition". Reportedly, the President also referred to the meeting with the Parliamentary TROIKA on October 13, 2000, in the course of which "he reproached Wieck and the others" regarding financial support for the opposition.
On the occasion of the TROIKA meeting on October 13, 2000, Ambassador Wieck informed President Lukashenko that the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group pays salaries for services rendered like any other institution. This, Ambassador Wieck underlined, was also the case with regard to the figures mentioned by the President in the meeting with the Parliamentary TROIKA. The funds at the disposal of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group are part of the OSCE budget, which is known also to Belarus authorities, or funds made available to the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group by voluntary contributions from member states and institutions and transferred through the OSCE Secretariat.
The OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus has not "channelled funds to the opposition". The $70,000 referred to by President Lukashenko is part of the funds needed for the countrywide network of independent election observers, organised by Non-Governmental Organisations and partially supported by the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus. Election observation is a legal activity of non-governmental organisations and of individual citizens of the country.
For further information, please contact Andrew Carpenter, Political Counsellor, OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus, Prospekt Gasety Pravda 11, 220116 Minsk, Belarus.tel.: + 375 17 272 34 97 fax: + 375 17 272 34 98 e-mail: [email protected]
On the occasion of the TROIKA meeting on October 13, 2000, Ambassador Wieck informed President Lukashenko that the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group pays salaries for services rendered like any other institution. This, Ambassador Wieck underlined, was also the case with regard to the figures mentioned by the President in the meeting with the Parliamentary TROIKA. The funds at the disposal of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group are part of the OSCE budget, which is known also to Belarus authorities, or funds made available to the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group by voluntary contributions from member states and institutions and transferred through the OSCE Secretariat.
The OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus has not "channelled funds to the opposition". The $70,000 referred to by President Lukashenko is part of the funds needed for the countrywide network of independent election observers, organised by Non-Governmental Organisations and partially supported by the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus. Election observation is a legal activity of non-governmental organisations and of individual citizens of the country.
For further information, please contact Andrew Carpenter, Political Counsellor, OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus, Prospekt Gasety Pravda 11, 220116 Minsk, Belarus.tel.: + 375 17 272 34 97 fax: + 375 17 272 34 98 e-mail: [email protected]