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.