BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

05/04/2006

Russian FM attacks EU for not talking with Belarus

BRATISLAVA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attacked the European Union for snubbing Belarus since the reelection of Alexander Lukashenko during a visit to the Slovak capital on Wednesday.

"We are convinced that if the EU has questions concerning the activities of a country's government, these questions should be solved by dialogue and not by attempts to isolate this country," Lavrov said during a joint news conference with his Slovak counterpart, Eduard Kukan.

Slovakia, a member of the EU since May 2004, fully supports the sanctions decided by the European Union against Belarus, Kukan said.

"Through these measures, we do not want at all to hurt the citizens of Belarus but, on the contrary, to maintain a dialogue and cooperation with them," Kukan added.

EU leaders decided at their March summit in Brussels to widen the list of Belarus officials who have been banned from visiting any of the bloc's 25 member states.

They also said they would weigh up trade sanctions against the country, describing it as a "sad exception" to democracy in Europe.

US government, which has also branded Belarus the last dictatorship in Europe, likewise promised to impose "targeted travel restrictions and economic sanctions."

Lavrov, visiting Bratislava since Tuesday, was due later to meet Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.

Source:

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=117361