The United Civil Party (UCP) calls for the implementation of a number of projects in the framework of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program, UCP Deputy Chairman Yaraslaw Ramanchuk told reporters in Minsk on October 29.
"By joining the Eastern Partnership our country has received a historic chance for full-fledged integration into the common European space. Belarus would get benefits from involvement in all four platforms of the program," he said.
The platform called "Democracy, good governance and stability" must help pro-democracy forces in Belarus secure their active participation in the Eastern Partnership parliamentary body and lead to the appointment of the European Union’s special representative for Belarus subordinate to the EU external relations commissioner, Mr. Ramanchuk said.
The platform "Economic integration and convergence with EU policies" may be aimed at helping develop a transport corridor linking Lithuania’s Klaipeda seaport with Minsk, Kyiv and Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa, and at assisting Belarus with a project to improve its logistical infrastructure.
The UCP suggests that the platform "Energy security" should be used to create more technical opportunities for electricity trade between Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, Mr. Ramanchuk said.
In the framework of the platform "Contacts between people" Belarus should consider abolishing the visa requirement for EU citizens in a unilateral move, while an EU-wide campaign should be held for the abolition of the visa requirement for citizens of the non-EU countries involved in the Eastern Partnership, according to the UCP deputy chairman.
The UCP is ready to cooperate with all agencies and organizations for the sake of closer relations between Belarus and the European Union, Mr. Ramanchuk said.
