BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/04/2005

EU blasts Belarus slide to 'dictatorship'

The European Union (EU) condemned Friday what it called a slide into "dictatorship" in Belarus, vowing to act in response to the worsening situation in the ex-Soviet country.

In a strongly-worded statement issued at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the EU's Luxembourg presidency expressed concern at a series of recent events including a clampdown on an opposition demonstration in Minsk last month.

"The EU has for several years watched the situation in Belarus closely and with great concern, and we have not seen the slightest improvement," said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

"On the contrary, the regime has taken steps to silence the last critical voices against it and has strengthened its grip ono all aspects of political and social life of the country," he added.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has earned stinging criticism from the West for suppressing media freedoms and political opponents during his 10 years at the helm of the impoverished and isolated republic.

The EU noted that concern in recent months has focused on the jailing of opposition politician Mikhail Marinich on widely questioned charges of theft, while also voicing "concern" over the way a March 25 protest was dispersed.

"The European Union must now take action to rapidly implement measures in the short and medium term to help open Belarus society," it said, without giving details of such moves could be.

"We cannot accept that a country on Europe's borders languishes irredemiably in dictatorship," it added.

The UN's top human rights forum this week violations of basic liberties and called on the Minsk regime to respect the rights of trade unions and journalists.

In a resolution the UN Human Rights Commission expressed "deep concern" over the forced disappearance or summary execution of three political opponents and a journalist in 1999 and 2000 as well as the conduct of elections in Belarus.

In reponse the Belarus government dismissed the UN body as irrelevant.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ruslan Yesin said its resolution "does not have force of law and is just a recommendation. It is nothing more than a document that will pile up in the secretariat of the UN."

Source:

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050415191945.va1x2iu6


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