Milinkevich meets with French foreign minister (Photo)

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on May 5 met with visiting Belarusian opposition politician Alyaksandr Milinkevich to discuss the situation in Belarus, BelaPAN said.

"Mr. Kouchner paid tribute to Mr. Milinkevich’s work and to the values he upholds: the promotion of civil society, democracy and human rights," said the press office of the former presidential candidate.

"It was a very interesting meeting," the press office quoted Mr. Milinkevich as saying. "Mr. Kouchner is not only a politician but also a famous civil society activist, the founder of international organization Doctors without Borders. He enjoys a high moral authority around the world. It was very easy for us to talk because we understood each other well as people advocating human rights issues. I talked about the importance of supporting civil society in Belarus, supporting political victims, independent media (radio, online publications, television, local newspapers), youth and educational projects."

The French minister reportedly said that he would be doing everything to ensure that the European Union's policy showed the maximum solidarity possible with pro-democratic forces in Belarus.

He said that France, to take over the EU's rotating presidency in July, would use widely the experience of new members to support democratic processes in Belarus.

Mr. Milinkevich spoke about efforts taken by the country's opposition to push for liberal amendments to electoral regulations. "The conduct of election campaigns in Belarus does not meet the minimum democratic standards," the politician said. "We are pushing for changes that could bring Belarus closer to generally established norms."

Mr. Milinkevich stressed the need for Minsk to fulfill the EU's 12 demands for democratic reform, describing the demands as moral. He said that the Belarusian authorities first of all should release political prisoners such as Alyaksandr Kazulin, Syarhey Parsyukevich and Andrey Kim.

The discussion also focused on the integration of Belarus into Europe and the Belarusian government's plans to build a nuclear power plant in the country, according to the press office.