Opposition parties, NGOs announce establishment of Belarusian Environmental Committee

A number of opposition parties and NGOs announced on Friday the establishment of what they called the Belarusian Environmental Committee.

The group was founded at a meeting in the Minsk office of the Belarusian Popular Front.

Under discussion were efforts to alleviate the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident and the construction of Belarus' first-ever nuclear power plant in the Hrodna region. Participants also mentioned the construction of hazardous plants, the destruction of green spaces, and peat mining in nature reserves.

"Our task is the environmental revival of Belarus, and it should become the national idea of the Belarusians," said opposition politician Viktar Ivashkevich.

The Belarusian Environmental Committee needs to have a strategy and a plan of action to change the environmental situation in the country in the short- and long-term future, according to Vital Rymashewski, a co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party.

The BEC includes a group called European Belarus, Belaruski Rukh (Belarusian Movement), the Belarusian Anti-nuclear Campaign, the "Spravedlivy Mir" (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left, the Hramada Belarusian Social Democratic Party, the "Tell the Truth!" movement, the Campaign for Fair Elections, the United Civic Party, and the Belarusian Popular Front. More organizations are expected to join the group.