PACE RAPPORTEUR ON
Italian deputy of the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Andrea Rigoni was appointed Rapporteur on
Office for a Democratic
Andrea Rigoni: I think I have an open approach, namely I would like to know the overall situation of
ODB: Is your mission a difficult one?
AR: Yes, given the biased background related to
ODB: What is then the country like?
AR: I am currently building my personal idea on Belarus through the hearings in the Sub-Committee for Belarus, through the meetings I am having on this issue and even more with the help of the visits that I will carry out in Minsk.
ODB: You are planning a fact-finding for the purposes of your report in autumn. Is it possible that you will come together with Mr.Pourgourides, Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, who is authorised for the report "Abuse of the criminal justice system in
AR: That is right, I am planning to carry out a 3-4 day visit to
ODB: Will you cooperate only with the Belarusian authorities for your report? When will your report be ready?
AR: I’m planning to meet both the authorities and the opposition leaders as well as the representatives of NGOs, civil society, economic and cultural elites and representatives of the academic circles. It is too early to talk about the conclusions of the report a few months after I have been given this mandate, considering also that my mandate has no specific deadline.
ODB: Mr.Rigoni, in your opinion, what does the European future of
AR: It is even more early to talk about that — the future status of
Andrea Rigoni is the Chairperson of the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Vice-Chairperson of the Assembly. Since February 2007 Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee on the situation in
Was born in
Interview conducted by Maryna Rakhlei
for the Office for a Democratic