The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has begun work on a report on Belarus, which is scheduled to be adopted in March 2027. This was announced by the press service of the United Transitional Cabinet.
Delegates of the Coordination Council, Yury Hubarevich and Iryna Khalopitsa, took part in a meeting with Congress Secretary General Mathieu Mori, held in Strasbourg as part of the seminar “Leaders of Change: Advancing Democracy and Human Rights at the Local Level.”
The Coordination Council representatives presented the results of the fourth-convocation Coordination Council elections and said the Belarusian authorities had exerted unprecedented pressure during the election campaign. All electoral lists and the Coordination Council itself were designated as “extremist,” relatives of candidates were subjected to repression, and a large-scale campaign of discreditation and disinformation was waged against the elections.
In addition, the electronic voting platform was targeted by a large-scale DDoS attack. According to representatives of the Latushka Coalition and For Freedom Movement faction, more than 24 billion requests and around 68 TB of malicious traffic were recorded. The cost of the attack was estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros.
The meeting also discussed preparations for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities’ report on Belarus. The Coordination Council representatives proposed that it include the implementation of the Luxembourg Agreements at the local level in Council of Europe member states, as well as access for former political prisoners and other Belarusians affected by repression to local social support programmes.
Following the meeting, the parties confirmed cooperation between the Congress and the Coordination Council delegation in preparing the future report.
