BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/11/2007

Belarusian President Accuses Europe Of 'Unacceptable Terms'

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on November 26 said in an interview with the Spanish daily "El Pais" that the European Union does not want the normalization of relations with Belarus. Lukashenka said that "Europe has gone too far and does not know today how to get out of this, saving its face." "If the European Union has enough determination to do that, we will be sitting at one table and holding a dialogue to be closer. We want this, but the EU does not want this and puts forward unacceptable terms," he said. The Kyiv-based European Commission delegation to Belarus and Ukraine issued a statement last week on the occasion of the first anniversary of the European Commission report titled "What the European Union Could Bring to Belarus." "The EU's offer to Belarus remains valid," the delegation said, adding that the conditions for the improvement of relations between Belarus and the EU include "the release of all political prisoners, respect for freedom of speech and of association, the holding of free and fair elections, the investigation of the cases of missing persons, and respect for the rights of minorities." AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/11/3-cee/cee-271107.asp