BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/01/2007

PACE President Visits Belarus

Rene van der Linden, the president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), arrived in Minsk on January 18 to hold meetings with Belarusian authorities and representatives of nongovernmental organizations, Belapan reported. Van der Linden met on January 18 with Uladzimir Kanaplyou, chairman of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Belarusian legislature, and Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynau. Kanaplyou suggested that the PACE president needs "firsthand" information about the situation in Belarus to form an objective view of it. Following the meeting with Martynau, Van der Linden said that the release of those people whom the EU considers political prisoners would be a step toward rapprochement between Belarus and the EU. Van der Linden also told Belapan that the EU put forward many conditions for his visit to Belarus, but "they [Belarusian authorities] fulfilled most of the conditions." AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/01/3-cee/cee-190107.asp