BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
04/02/2009
EU to assess Minsk's road to democracy in March - Czech official
EU v breznu zhodnoti postup Beloruska k demokracii
Prague - The EU will assess in March how Alexandr Lukashenko's regime in Belarus has moved towards democracy and whether sanctions should be lifted from the country, Czech Foreign Ministry senior official Petr Burianek told journalists today.
The Czech Republic is holding the EU's six month presidency.
Last October, the EU for half a year softened some of the sanctions it had imposed on the repressive regime in Belarus.
Burianek, director of the ministry's European countries department, said that certain progress can be registered in Belarus, such as a minor loosening of the state control of the media and the state's effort not to criminalise the opposition.
"The European Union naturally mainly expects a clear progress in the legislation concerning the functioning of parliamentary democracy," Burianek said.
He said Minsk also has to improve its approach to the freedom of the media, the political opposition and non-governmental organisations.
Burianek said the EU will assess the development of Belarus by the end of March so that a decision can be made whether it should continue its communication with Belarus's current political representation.
However, it is too early to make a complex assessment. The communication continues and a number of EU states are taking part in it, he said.
Source:
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