BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/11/2008

Belarus prime minister visits EU member Latvia

by Sahil Nagpal

Big energy bills keep inflation high in Latvia Riga - The prime minister of Belarus, Sergey Sidorski, took advantage of his new-found freedom to travel Wednesday by visiting neighbouring Latvia in his first official trip to a European Union member state since travel restrictions on members of the Belarusian government were lifted on October 13.

Transport and business were on the agenda when Sidorski met his Latvian counterpart, Ivars Godmanis, but no mention was made of sensitive issues such as human rights or missile systems.

Sidorski was one of the people formerly blacklisted by the EU in response to the authoritarian nature of President Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian rule in Belarus.

Lukashenko is invariably referred to as "Europe's last dictator" by western media, a reputation reinforced by recent elections in which opposition figures failed to win a single seat in the Belarusian parliament.

Energy and infrastructure were discussed, the prime ministers confirmed during a brief press conference, with particular emphasis on the use of EU funds to upgrade border infrastructure. A week before Sidorski's visit, the two neighbours signed an agreement finalising the demarcation of their mutual border.

"The issues discussed today are related with expanding economic and trade potential, bilateral trade and cooperation in energy and transit," Sidorski said.

In fact, it is the second time this year the pair have met. On July 11 while Sidorski was still banned from entering the EU, he crossed a few metres into EU territory in Latvia for secret talks.

Since then, the EU's attitude to the governing regime in Belarus has softened, especially after Belarus refused to join its traditional ally, Russia, in recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia following the August war between Russia and Georgia.

However, Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Latvia was not acting as an unofficial bridge between Belarus and the EU.

"We are neighbours so of course we have things we need to discuss together," Godmanis said.

Sidorski did not make any comment on report by Russian news agency Interfax that plans are being made for a joint Russian-Belarusian missile defence system in response to the United States' own intended missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

During his visit, Sidorski also visited trade fair Belarus Expo 2008, which opened its doors in the Latvian capital Wednesday.

Many Latvians view goods from Belarus as representing good value, with tractors and furniture still possessing a place in the popular imagination after years of forced familiarity when both countries were part of the Soviet Union. (dpa)

Source:

http://www.topnews.in/belarus-prime-minister-visits-eu-member-latvia-287965

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