BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29 July 2005

Russia should push for change in Belarus: Poland

(Reuters)

WARSAW - Russia could do more to press Belarus -- engaged in a worsening row with its western neighbour Poland -- to respect human rights and democracy, a leading Polish diplomat said on Friday.

Warsaw has called for European Union help in protecting Poland's ethnic minority in Belarus after the ex-Soviet country's special forces raided the offices of a Polish association on Thursday.

It was the latest in a series of moves against Poles in Belarus, which retains close ties to Moscow, after President Alexander Lukashenko -- described by US officials as Europe's last dictator -- accused Poland of plotting an uprising.

"For a number of months we have been discussing (Belarus with our partners) ... and the overwhelming view is that we should talk to Russia about this issue more than we have in the past," deputy foreign minister Jan Truszczynski said.

He told private radio TOK an internationally accepted Belarus would be a much stronger ally for Moscow than it is now. The EU recently rejected visa applications by top Minsk diplomats in protest at Lukashenko's clampdown on the opposition.

"Until now, there was no will on the Russian side for such dialogue. Russia keeps repeating that Belarus is an independent country, that it decides for itself, that 'we have nothing to say here' -- this is fiction," he said.

The EU said on Thursday it was worried by the situation in Belarus but would refrain from any concrete action against Minsk for now. But Truszczynski said there was scope for action.

"The EU and the United States are closely cooperating on Belarus and share the conviction that more can be done for democracy there. One way is by dialogue with Russia, if Russia believes that such talks would be in its interest."

Source:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/July/theworld_July857.xml§ion=theworld&col=

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