BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/10/2008

Lukashenko hails lifting of EU travel ban

Belarus strongman and several associates now free to fly east and west

AFP

MINSK - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday hailed a decision by the European Union to suspend a travel ban on himself and several associates.

"I greatly value these steps, which were not easily achieved considering that the EU is made up of 27 states. I think we have good prospects for cooperation with the EU," Lukashenko said while attending a Holocaust memorial event, in comments distributed by his press service.

At a meeting in Luxembourg on Oct. 13, ministers lifted a ban on travel to the EU that applied to 41 Belarusians, comprising Lukashenko and his associates.

The travel ban was left in place for four figures deemed responsible for disappearances in the country in 1999-2000, as well as Belarusian electoral commission head Lydia Yermoshina.

Lukashenko has been dubbed Europe's last dictator by the United States, but European officials have warned that isolating him could allow the country to fall further under Russian domination.

Source:

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=a46b7619-8444-4750-a321-4f4d0f0b3faa

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