OSCE office in Minsk is closed

Head of the office, German diplomat Benedict Haller, leaves Belarus today.

OSCE mission has worked in Belarus since 1998. The Belarusian authorities took the decision to close the office in the end of 2010.

Belarusian representative in international organizations in Vienna Aliaksandr Sychou has informed the members of the OSCE Permanent Council about the official Minsk's decision not to renew the mandate of the OSCE office in Minsk due to "absense of objective reasons to keep the mission", on December 31.

To the political scientists' opinion, the reason for closing the office is the negative estimation of the presidential election results in Belarus by the OSCE's representatives.

The West condemned Minsk's decision to close the OSCE office, BelaPAN reports.