Swedish authorities explain why resolution on Belarus was not supported

The Swedish authorities have explained why the Swedish delegation did not support the resolution on Belarus at the OSCE PA session in Minsk. It was suggested by the Lithuanian delegation but the committee did not support it. According to the resolution, the Belarusian authorities had to be urged to acquit political prisoners, impose a moratorium on the death penalty, reform the election system and make the construction of Astarvets NPP transparent.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström has explained to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius why the resolution was blocked, Delfi reports. “This is not Sweden’s official position, it happened because of the circumstances,” Wallström said. It means that the reason is unknown. The removal of the resolution draft from the agenda was initiated by Swedish MP Kent Härstedt. He was supported by representatives of 20 states, 29 abstained and only 8 countries supported the resolution.