26/04/2010 Session
Looking ahead to this week's visit by President Yanukovich, the PACE President, in his opening speech at the spring session, said that the Assembly should give its assistance and support to the Ukrainian authorities right now, as the new government faced urgent and important issues which were crucial for the future of the country.
On the subject of the visit this week by Sergey Lavrov, "one of the most respected and experienced Foreign Ministers in Europe", the PACE President pointed out that there was one condition to be met in order for the dialogue between the Council of Europe and Russia to bring results: it needed to be "frank on both sides and without prejudices and double standards".
The President also announced that he would, during his meetings with President Yanukovich and Mr Lavrov, be raising the question of the strategy to be followed for dealing with Belarus. He said that the Assembly's efforts had produced "no real results". Belarus was "the only country on our continent with which the Assembly has no formal relations. The only country in Europe still executing people [...]. We should ask ourselves a question - how can we influence a regime on which we have no leverage? In my opinion, we have a moral obligation towards the people of Belarus to be more present and engaged in the country."