Americas

Home page

Americas

U.S., EU regret Belarus’ decision to close OSCE office

05 January 2011 05:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States and the European Union said on Tuesday in a joint statement that they regret Belarus’ decision to close the office of the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in its capital city of Minsk, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.
"The mandate of the mission is not completed, as the OSCE’s critical assessment of the presidential elections indicates," said U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton in the statement.
The two also reiterated their call on the Belarusian authorities to fulfill their commitments to the OSCE by "reforming the election process and providing greater respect for human rights."
Belarus has decided not to extend the mandate of the OSCE’s office in Minsk, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.