BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/08/2006

EU backs Latvia in 'gay porn' row with Belarus

Author: Bruno Waterfield

Relations between Belarus and the EU have hit a new low following a bitter "gay sex" diplomatic row between Minsk and Latvia.

The Finnish EU presidency has thrown Europe's weight behind Riga after a "gay porn" raid last week by Belarusian authorities on a Latvian diplomat.

On Wednesday the Latvian foreign ministry expelled Dmitry Krayushkin, first secretary of the Belarus embassy in Riga, for "actions incompatible with a diplomatic status".

The EU is declaring Belarus in breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention, an international treaty, ratified by Minsk 42 years ago, that sets out protections for diplomats.

"The presidency of the EU expresses its disapproval of the Belarusian authorities' actions: against a diplomat of the embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Minsk," said a statement on Friday.

"The presidency calls for an immediate explanation by the Belarusian authorities of this serious violation of international law and calls on Belarus to abide by its international commitments."

The Belarusian president and senior Minsk officials are banned from travel to the EU after rigged elections in April.

The latest row follows a raid on the apartment of a Latvian diplomat Reimo Smits and Minsk claims that video tapes of gay sex were seized.

On Sunday Belarusian TV showed alleged footage of gay sex and claimed Latvia's diplomat was involved in homosexual activties.

Latvian foreign minister Artis Pabriks insisted Riga's expulsion of the senior Belarusian diplomat came after "rude provocation" on the part of Minsk.

"For the past week, the Belarussian side has launched an unprecedented series of provocations not only against the Latvian diplomat and state, but also against the fundamental values of the EU," he said.

"In Belarus, homosexuality is a crime, just as it was in the Soviet Union... [but] we have received no explanation as to why our diplomat's house was searched."

"We have appraised the actions of the Belarus embassy and concluded that some of their actions are improper for diplomats."

Source:

http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200608/8c49fa32-33fa-4641-aa6f-bd72f9070f58.htm