Minsk: delay in visa delivering don’t stop the activity of the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Civil Society for EaP

With a delay in the delivery of visas the Belarusian authorities tried to stop the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership that was scheduled in Minsk on the 4th and 5th of April 2011.

Unfortunately (see Statement below) the whole Steering Committee could not meet as expected, because only nine members of the committee were able to arrive in Minsk, while four members did not receive a visa and couldn’t arrive.

Despite this difficult situation, the members met to further progress on the different objectives like the activities of the Working Groups and the National Platforms. They also had the opportunity to discuss the important challenge of the future Eastern Partnerhsip Summit in Warsaw in September and also the Third Civil Society Forum in Poznan in November.

The group of participants had the opportunity to meet the National Platform and discuss the possible means of support to Civil Society representatives in Belarus.
Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA’s Director, elected co-chair of the Steering Committee together with M. UladVialicka, chairman of EuroBelarus, lead part of the debates.
The next meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on the 3rd and 4th of May in Brussels.