OREANDA-NEWS. July 9, 2008. Transparent parliamentary elections in Belarus will contribute to the development of a dialogue with the EU member states, deputy chairman of the committee for human rights and humanitarian aid of the German Bundestag Holger Heibach said at the meeting with a group of deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on July 9.

“We appreciate the opportunity to work with Belarusian parliamentarians elected in the course of free elections,” Holger Heibach said.

The chairman of the permanent commission for human rights, national relations and mass media, Yury Kulakovsky, assured his German counterpart that the election campaign in Belarus will be held in a strict compliance with the Belarusian law and international standards. “We are not afraid of making the elections transparent and we will appreciate if you find our flaws and give good advice,” Yury Kulakovsky said.

The Belarusian politician also thinks that the interparliamentary cooperation between Belarus and Germany should be developed more actively. In spite of the existing contacts between Belarusian parliamentarians and their German counterparts, this dialogue is not systematic. At the same time, the bilateral parliamentary interaction is carried out within international organizations. The Belarusian side views such contacts as a foundation for the sustainable development of the bilateral relations and hopes that Germany will offer Belarus a stronger support on the international arena, Yury Kulakovsky said.

“Germany is one of the major trading partners of Belarus in the west, but we would like the political relations between the two counties to be given a higher priority than the economic ones,” the Belarusian politician said.