At the invitation of the Belarusian authorities, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe held a round table and several high-level meetings with the Belarusian authorities in Minsk on 11 and 12 September 2018.

The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM met the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander LUKASHENKO, as well as the President of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Mikhail MIASNIKOVICH on 11 September 2018. She also participated in a seminar organised with students and professors from the Minsk Academy of Public Administration.

On the same day, a seminar brought together Congress members and experts to discuss the situation of local self-government in Belarus, in the light of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It was opened by the Vice-President of the Congress, Michalis ANGELOPOULOS (Greece, SOC) and the Dean of the Academy of Public Administration, Gennady PALCHIK.

On 12 September, a round table will be devoted to these issues with a view to examining how the principles of the Charter are taken into account in Belarus' local government system, as well as their practical implementation and future prospects. The role of national associations of local authorities will be presented, in particular, by Leendert VERBEEK (Netherlands, SOC), Chairman of the Congress Monitoring Committee, and cross-border co-operation by Robert Csongor GRUMAN, Vice-President of the Congress. Participants will also discuss several local self-government issues such as the training of local government staff and twinning as a development tool.

At the opening of the Round table held in Minsk, Belarus, on 12 September 2018, Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM welcomed this initiative as “a good opportunity to establish the groundwork for a better decentralization in Belarus and to strengthen our cooperation in the field of local democracy”.

The Congress President presented the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which functions as a kind of "constitution for local authorities", one of the characteristics of which is its adaptability to European national systems.

“Belarus has already anchored local self-government in its constitution, which demonstrates a political will to establish local self-government in the country. The Congress is ready to contribute to Council of Europe Action Plan for Belarus and to support your country in its next steps towards greater decentralization,” she stated as she addressed the participants.

"Even though the 47 member states of the Council of Europe have ratified the Charter, let us be honest, much remains to be done to improve local self-government in all our countries", said the Congress President, stressing that through its experience in monitoring the implementation of the Charter, the Congress has identified several recurring issues that need to be improved in this field. "This shows that even if we have reached a certain political maturity, we still need to strengthen our democracies and, to this end, we must develop synergies and learn from each other," she concluded.

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