BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/02/2009

EU warns Belarus not to recognize Georgian separatist regions

By Stephen Castle

BRUSSELS: The European Union warned Belarus on Monday that the country's prospects of drawing closer to the bloc would be undermined if the government in Minsk fell into line with Russia by recognizing the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In April the EU will decide whether to extend a relaxation of political sanctions against Belarus and whether to invite the country to take part in a new initiative to strengthen ties with East European nations.

But the thaw in relations could be complicated by the possibility of a parliamentary vote in Minsk over recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, whose independence was recognized by Moscow after the brief war in August between Russia and Georgia over the enclaves.

Speaking after a meeting in Brussels, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, described the decision as one for the Parliament of Belarus but added that such a step would leave Minsk isolated.

"If they recognize South Ossetia and Abkhakzia," said Schwarzenberg, "it would create a very, very difficult situation for Belarus because Belarus would be out of the European consensus."

The EU's Eastern Partnership plans to offer trade concessions, economic assistance, and consultations on security, and to promote economic integration in countries including Ukraine and Moldova.

But Belarus's poor human rights record and its alignment with Moscow its make it a complicated proposition.

Belarus has shown some signs of internal reform, although it is often described as the last dictatorship in Europe and retains close ties with Moscow.

Hitch for Croatia's EU plans

EU foreign ministers said Monday that they would help resolve a border dispute that threatens to derail Croatia's efforts to join the 27-nation bloc, The Associated Press reported from Brussels.

But they remained divided over Serbia's effort to join, with the Netherlands continuing to veto an interim accord until Serbia extradites Ratko Mladic, an important war crimes suspect. Mladic was the commander of Bosnian Serb forces during the war in Bosnia.

The disagreement between Slovenia and Croatia portends wider problems for other aspiring nations of the Western Balkans, where border disputes continue after the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslav federation in the 1990s.

The dispute between Slovenia, which joined the EU in 2004, and Croatia, which hopes to join in two years, centers on sea rights in the Bay of Piran, an inlet in the northern Adriatic shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

Slovenia, whose coastal waters are blocked by those of its two larger neighbors, insists that Croatia give it a channel to the open seas. The prime ministers of the two nations will meet Tuesday in Slovenia to try to resolve the impasse.

Slovenia is also threatening to block Croatia from joining NATO at the alliance's 60th-anniversary summit meeting in April.

The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said it was exasperating for the bloc to deal with a minor border spat.

The EU is "working on peace not only in the Middle East but everywhere in the world, but we are not able to get a solution on such a problem. Please!" Kouchner said.

"They need to negotiate, and the EU absolutely is ready to help."

Officials are reported to have asked former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, a Nobel peace laureate, to mediate.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/23/europe/union.4-436409.php

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