Belarus tried to block vote on Crimea resolution at UN

Belarusian diplomats attempted to disrupt the vote at the United Nations Third Committee on a draft resolution on the human rights violations in Crimea, writes Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Information Policy Emine Jepar. Belarus representatives tried to use the 'no action motion', i.e. none of the four issues on agenda (Crimea, Syria, North Korea and Iran) would be considered and no decisions would be made. However, the Belarus proposal was defeated with 101 countries voting against the motion, 37 abstained and only 32 voting in favor.

According to dialog.ua, this action by Belarus prompted reaction from the Ukrainian delegation at the United Nations. Ukraine's Permanent Representative at the UN Volodymyr Yelchenka wrote on Twitter: "These are our friends!" He described the Belarus' motion as 'a stab in the back.'

The resolution in question calls to condemn massive human rights violations in Crimea and demands Russia to observe international obligations. 73 couuntries voted in favor of the resolution, 23 - against and 76 - abstained. The list of those voting against includes Belarus, Angola, Armenia, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Comoros Islands, North Korea, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Russia, Nicaragua, Serbia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Eritrea, Zimbabwe.