March 6, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja and Bulgarian National Assembly Speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov agreed at a meeting yesterday to form a group of “friends of a democratic Belarus,” Cichanoŭskaja’s chief aide Franak Viačorka said.
Cichanoŭskaja hopes that members of different political groups and parties will join the group, Viačorka told Pozirk. It will be headed by MP Daniel Mitov, who was also present at the meeting.
Zhelyazkov stressed that Bulgaria stopped cooperating with the Belarusian House of Representatives and did not recognize the election for the lower house, which took place in February.
He said he expected European politicians to be more decisive in supporting Belarusian pro-democracy forces.
Speaking to the Bulgarian parliamentary committee on European affairs, Cichanoŭskaja touched on sanctions, support for the media, human rights activists and civil society, student exchanges and scholarships.
Representatives of various political forces, including pro-Russian ones, attended the meeting, according to Viačorka.
Parliamentary groups For Democratic Belarus have been formed in 24 national parliaments. An alliance of these groups held its first meeting in November.
