OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu attended the Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security and held talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Critics of the authorities said such high-level engagement was inappropriate while political repression continued and Minsk remained closely aligned with Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Радіо Свобода (svoboda.org) reported on Sunday, November 8, that Belarusian state media presented the visit as evidence that the country could not be excluded from international diplomacy. At their meeting, Lukashenko accused the OSCE of applying biased standards when assessing elections in Belarus and Russia.

Addressing the conference, Sinirlioğlu called for political will to restore broader European dialogue. He emphasized communication, diplomacy, transparency and practical risk-reduction measures, while warning against allowing wars and conflicts to become a normal condition.

The OSCE chief also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines, though Moscow disclosed only that they discussed the organization’s affairs. Opposition official Pavel Latushka described the Minsk trip as illogical and questioned why it was not accompanied by visible demands concerning political prisoners, dissolved organizations or independent media.