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http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=124036
EU Mulls Belarus Sanctions, Italy, Poland Against Bulgaria in EU | January 11, 2011, Tuesday
Controversial Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been leading the country ever since 1994, and was re-elected for a fresh 5-year term in December 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES
EU leaders are considering toughening their stance against Belarus, including possible sanctions, in the wake of December presidential elections marred by violence and qualified by observers as neither free nor fair.
Just before Christmas, EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Catherine Ashton and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued a joint statement threatening to freeze ties with Belarus should the country fail to make palpable progress in the establishing of true democracy.
Over the past few years, the EU has warmed up to Belarus, and included it in its so-called Eastern Partnership program together with other ex-Soviet republics.
Now the European press reports that diplomats are set to meet Tuesday to discuss possible Belarusian assets freezes and travel bans for state officials, as an act of pressure against what happened in December's presidential elections, which left hundreds beaten up and imprisoned by security forces, including all of the opposition candidates to President Alexander Lukashenko.
Wednesday Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Martynov is set to visit Brussels to discuss bilateral relations.
It is reported that member states such as the UK, Germany and Sweden argue in particular for strong and decisive measures against Lukashenko.
Others, such as neighboring Lithuania, are for a more balanced stance. The position of Poland is ambivalent, as the country wants both to pressure the Belarusian government, as well as to protect the interests of the sizeable Polish minority in the ex-Soviet republic, which is facing suppression at the hands of those in power. In particular, Poland has liberalized the visa regime for Belarusian nationals and opened its university for fleeing Belarusian students.
Italy is also among the EU member states that favor a more careful approach to Lukashenka and Belarus. PM Silvio Berlusconi was on visit to Minsk in 2009, with the two countries having significant joint business project. Berlusconi's Italy is also having a particularly fond relationship - both politically and economically - with Russia, Belarus ' great, if recently ambivalent, ally.
Tags: Belarus, EU, sanctions, Alexander Lukashenko, Germany, UK, Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, Eastern Partnership, elections
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http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123796
Lukashenko to End Up Again on EU's Persona Non Grata List Bulgaria in EU | January 4, 2011, Tuesday
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a press conference in Minsk, Belarus, 20 December 2010. EPA/BGNES
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is going to be put back on the so called EU visa ban list together with a number of other Belarusian officials deemed responsible for recent harrassment of opposition leaders.
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This has been made clear by Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, as cited by EU Observer.
"We have to follow the logic of our previous policies. The last time, when we no longer had political prisoners, we took positive steps. Now we have many more prisoners and those who took part in the actions which took place and those who collaborated with them will inevitably come back on the list. I find it highly likely that he was involved in the actions which took place," Bildt said with respect to Lukanshenko who was reelected as the President of Belarus at the end of December in elections that drew much criticism from the West, especially since they were accompanied with arrests and beatings of opposition protesters.
The EU imposed visa sanctions on Mr Lukashenko and 40 officials in the wake of a similar but less harsh post-election crackdown in 2006. The bloc suspended the ban for 36 of the names in 2008 following the release of high-level political prisoners in a move which later saw the Belarusian leader visit Italy.
EU embassies in Minsk are currently preparing a new list which will be forwarded to a meeting of the member states' Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels on Friday. One EU diplomatic source said the draft list already numbers over 100 people.
On Monday, Belarus released from detention one of the opposition presidential candidates Vital Rymashevski, who together with 26 others is facing charges of organizing riots that can get him up to 15 years in prison.
The Swedish Foreign Minister has revealed that additional measures on part of the EU against Lukashenko might include cutting all EU projects linked to Belarusian authorities; excluding Belarus from meetings under the EU's Eastern Partnership policy, including an EU summit with six post-Soviet countries in Budapest in May; expanding assistance to Belarusian civil society.
Tags: Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus, Carl Bildt, Swedeish Foreign Minister
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http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123571
Gazprom to Drop Prices to Estonia, Latvia, Belarus Energy | December 26, 2010, Sunday
The Russian energy giant "Gazprom" will be ready soon with the technology and economy feasibility assessment of the project to build the South Stream gas pipeline. File photo
Gazprom has announced it plans to drop prices of natural gas sold to Estonia, Latvia and Belarus with some 15%.
The reason, as quoted by the Interfax agency, is a change of the price formula and is not unconditional.
Latvia and Estonia will get cheaper gas if they raise the volume of natural gas delivered up to the levels of 2007. No price decrease is previewed or the third Baltic state Lithuania.
The 15% decrease for Belarus will be gradual through 2011 and will be effective 2012.
Over 2010, Bulgaria has been trying to negotiate lower prices with the Russian gas giant, after the latest scheduled increases. Up to now, only a marginal decrease of always increasing prices has been achieved.
Tags: Gazprom, natural gas, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia
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http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123508
EU, US Threaten to Freeze Ties with Belarus over Violence World | December 23, 2010, Thursday
Relatives and friends of arrested Belarussian opposition supporters wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes in Minsk, Belarus, 22 December 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES
The EU and US are ready to freeze rapprochement with Belarus if no swift improvement is made in the human rights sphere, according to a joint statement by the two heads of diplomacy, Catherine Ashton and Hilary Clinton.
Last Sunday, incumbent President Alexandr Lukashenko won a landslide victory of over 80% at the presidental elections in Belarus, which were declared by the OSCE as "neither free, nor fair."
Although a number of opposition candidates participated in the vote and were given access to publicity that is ample by Belarusian standards, none of them appeared to achieve significant success, as the best-ranking opposition candidate Alexander Milinkievic scored just 6%.
The results proved frustrating for thousands of Belarusians, who walked out in protest Sunday night amid a snow storm. The protests erupted into clashes, with many wounded and imprisoned, including opposition candidates themselves.
In their joint statement, the EU and US call for immediate release of all those imprisoned, and "strongly condemn all violence, especially the disproportionate use of force against presidential candidates, political activists, representatives of civil society and journalists."
The statement further describes the elections as an "unfortunate step backwards" for Belarus.
The EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jointly state that any progress in relations with Belarus is conditional on palpable improvement in the state of human rights and democratic governance in the country.
Tags: Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Catherine Ashton, Hilary Clinton, USA, EU
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