BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
20/03/2008
Belarus urges U.S. to lift sanctions amid diplomatic crisis
The Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus: Belarus urged the U.S. administration Thursday to lift sanctions imposed on the authoritarian ex-Soviet state and blamed Washington for the deepening diplomatic crisis.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Popov urged the U.S. to remove sanctions against Belneftekhim, the country's state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company if it wants to normalize relations.
"Belarus is not interested in straining ties," Popov said. "Belarus is not the source of the tension."
The long-strained relations between the U.S. and Belarus have deteriorated this month after President Alexander Lukashenko's government recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and pushed the U.S. to do the same in retaliation over U.S. sanctions against Belneftekhim.
U.S. officials have called Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator" for his authoritarian rule and intolerance of dissent in the nation of 10 million. The U.S. said the Belarusian government must release all inmates the U.S. considers political prisoners if it wants to improve ties.
Three opposition activists in the capital, Minsk, launched a hunger strike Thursday to demand the release of remaining political prisoners.
"My hunger strike is an action of solidarity with those who are behind bars," said one activist, Tatiana Vanina.
On Wednesday, Lukashenko lambasted the EU for what he called its dependency on U.S. foreign policies.
"We absolutely don't accept the European Union walking to the U.S. drum," he was quoted as telling the state-run BelTA news agency.
Western pressure will only make Belarus-Russian ties stronger, he said.
Earlier this year, Belarusian authorities released several opposition activists from prison in what Lukashenko said was a goodwill gesture to the West. The move followed Russia's decision to sharply hike prices for oil exports to Belarus - exports on which the country's Soviet-style, centrally controlled economy had long depended.
Russia and Belarus signed a union agreement in 1996 that envisaged close political, economic and military ties, but efforts to achieve a full merger have foundered.
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/20/europe/EU-GEN-Belarus-US.php
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