Belarus is preparing proposals for participation in the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

March 23, Minsk / Yekaterina Nechayeva - BELTA /. Belarus is preparing proposals for participation in the implementation of the European Union's strategy for the Baltic Sea region. This was announced to BELTA correspondent by Mikhail Rusy, Chairman of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Chernobyl Catastrophe, Ecology and Environmental Management, head of the Belarusian parliament's delegation for contacts with the Nordic Council, summing up the results of the conference "The Role of Politicians in a Changing Society" which concluded in Minsk today. According to him, an agreement has been reached that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus will prepare and submit proposals for our country's participation in the implementation of the EU strategy in the Baltic Sea region. Projects for the construction of treatment facilities, the use of natural resources, as well as in the field of small hydropower, transport, and tourism may be of particular interest to Belarus. "Given that Belarusian rivers bring half of the fresh water to the Baltic Sea, our country cannot stand aside from the European strategy for the development of territories around this sea," believes Mikhail Rusy. The deputy stressed that all parliamentarians participating in the conference expressed their readiness to continue cooperation at the level of the inter-parliamentary delegation of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Nordic Council. However, this does not prevent the development of dialogue at the level of the parliaments of our country and each of the Nordic Council member states individually. Progress in this direction is necessary, although the creation of working groups in the Belarusian parliament for cooperation, for example, with Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, is unlikely for now. Parliamentarians of these countries prefer to communicate with their Belarusian colleagues within the framework of the Nordic Council. Mikhail Rusy drew attention to the fact that the development models of Belarus and the Nordic countries have much in common, echoing each other on a number of points, and this was confirmed by the speeches and discussions of the conference participants. The most important and fundamental difference between the two models is their social orientation. It is not people for the state and for the economy, but vice versa, the state and the economy are for the people. Moreover, Belarus is making efforts to prevent excessive stratification into rich and poor in society. "We have the lowest ratio between the incomes of the most and least affluent groups of the population among the post-Soviet countries. And this is one of the most important factors for the stability of our society," the parliamentarian emphasized. Common features of both models also include an evolutionary, progressive path of development, the retention of key sectors of the national economy under state control, on which the development of the country's economy as a whole depends, consistent privatization, and a reasonable combination of economy and ecology. "Speaking about Belarus, the main thing in our economic policy at the present stage is not the rapid and mass privatization of large enterprises, but the liberalization of their activities, the expansion of their rights, the minimization of various bureaucratic procedures, and the provision of equal opportunities for any business, regardless of ownership," noted Mikhail Rusy. He added that in the future, given the processes of economic globalization, it will inevitably be necessary to transition to private ownership in almost all spheres. But this must be done gradually, accumulating experience, forming traditions and a legislative framework, primarily by the example of small and medium-sized businesses. The conference also included a discussion of the socio-political situation in Belarus. Since representatives of the so-called opposition participated in the discussion, the issue of the influence of civil society on state decision-making was raised. "No constructive proposals were made by politicians not represented in the Belarusian parliament. Moreover, they criticized even obviously positive actions of the authorities, for example, the implementation of the 'Clean Water' program," said Mikhail Rusy. According to him, the conference participants specifically emphasized to foreign guests the fact that civil society in Belarus is represented by 15 political parties and more than 22,000 public and trade union organizations. Therefore, it is absolutely incorrect to extend the private opinion of representatives of some political forces to the entire civil society, as is often done in the West, adopting only the viewpoint of the "opposition." The next meeting within the framework of cooperation with the Nordic Council will be held in June in Vilnius. A conference on the role of young politicians in a changing society is planned here, to which representatives of Belarus are also invited. -0-