BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/04/2009

EU invites Belarus president to summit

MINSK (AFP) -- The European Union has invited Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to a summit on partnership with ex-Soviet states next month, the Czech foreign minister said Friday, despite criticism of the authoritarian regime.

Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said he had met Lukashenko and handed over the invitation to the May 7 meeting in Prague.

"It's up to the president... in which way Belarus will be represented at the conference," Schwarzenberg told reporters in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

The Prague summit is dedicated to an Eastern Partnership program intended to develop ties with six non-EU states in the former Soviet bloc, the other states being Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Belarus' involvement had been in question because of differences over abuses of democratic and human rights standards under Lukashenko's regime, dubbed Europe's last dictatorship by the United States.

However, the Czech Republic's eurosceptic president Vaclav Klaus expressed his opposition Friday declaring he will snub his Belarusian counterpart if he attends the EU summit.

"The president is surprised by the double standards used," a statement from Klaus's office said. "He lets it be known that he will not shake Mr. Lukashenko's hand nor receive him in Prague Castle."

Some EU member states, such as the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, concerned about democratization in Belarus, still have reservations about inviting Minsk to the summit.

However, in recent months there has been a warming of EU-Belarus ties, to the irritation of neighboring Russia.

Speaking alongside Schwarzenberg, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov sounded an upbeat note.

"The respected minister gave an invitation to the president to participate in the summit. In the coming days we will work to ensure this summit is a success," Martynov told journalists.

Russia has strongly criticized the Eastern Partnership as dividing Europe, forcing the states to choose between Moscow and Brussels.

Belarus has been a close partner of Russia and has established a formal "union state" arrangement with its giant neighbor, on which it depends crucially for gas and oil supplies.

Meanwhile, Belarusia's opposition to Lukashenko's regime blasted the EU for inviting the authoritarian leader.

"In effect, Lukashenko has received Europe's blessing," said Vintsuk Vecherenko of the Belarus Popular Front.

"Europe will be responsible with Lukashenko for the next wave of repression," he added.

Alexander Kozulin, a former presidential candidate in 2006 who was beaten, detained and finally sentenced to five and a half years in prison, said the Europeans had distanced themselves from their "fundamental moral values."

Source:

http://tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=192594

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