{"id":209621,"date":"2026-10-29T17:27:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209621\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T17:27:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:27:47","slug":"coe-congress-knows-about-exiled-belarusians-id-problems-and-takes-them-seriously-president-says","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209621\/","title":{"rendered":"CoE Congress knows about exiled Belarusians\u2019 ID problems and takes them seriously, president says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n President Gunn Marit Helgesen \n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 29, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The Council of Europe\u2019s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is aware of the difficult situation of exiled Belarusians, including those who have no valid passports, and takes it really seriously, the regional body\u2019s President Gunn Marit Helgesen told Belarusian reporters in Strasbourg on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know there is a very complicated situation when it comes to, for example, they lose their passports, their ID cards, and how to live in a world with so much technology that we need passports and ID cards. So, we are aware of the situation, and we really take it seriously,\u201d Helgesen replied when asked what the Congress can do to stop repression in Belarus beyond words of support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish I could do more than we can, because what we do is, we have included the Belarusian democratic forces in the Congress,\u201d she said, referring to a delegation of the opposition Coordination Council that attends the body\u2019s meetings. \u201cThey have a speaking slot; they have a youth delegate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the delegation\u2019s performance and the possibility of \u201cexpanding its mandate,\u201d Helgesen said that \u201cif we need to change anything, we discuss it.\u201d She noted that the delegation had been invited to every session held by the Congress and had met with all the national delegations, focusing on countries that have granted asylum to many Belarusians, including Austria, Germany and Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delegation reportedly \u201cestablishes contacts to work out what is known as the Luxembourg Solutions, to resolve the issues of ID, passports, et cetera; to provide some kind of status at local level to people who lost their passports, for example, who lost their status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the Contact Group with the Council of Europe, Belarusian pro-democratic forces are learning the \u201cprinciples of local democracy\u201d to have a \u201cprepared reserve\u201d when the government in Belarus changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helgesen stressed that the Belarusian delegation is \u201cvery active\u201d and gets to speak at almost every debate, and that she had suggested making its representatives \u201cpart of some monitoring visit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helgesen said that a report by Belinda Gottardi, rapporteur of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, on support for Belarusian pro-democracy forces and civil society in exile would be discussed at the Congress\u2019 session in March 2026. She did not rule out that the regional body\u2019s support \u201ctools\u201d for Belarus would be \u201cstrengthened\u201d as a result of the discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is one of the Council of Europe\u2019s key institutions alongside the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), comprising governors, mayors and local politicians from 46 member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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