Makei may visit EU?
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10:30, — Politics
The head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, Maira Mora, says it is possible.
The European Union does not rule out the possibility of suspending visa restitutions against Belarusian foreign minister Uladzimir Makei. There have been similar precedents relating to high-ranking diplomats, Maira Mora said in an interview with Interfax news agency.
Maira Mora notes she cannot rule out that the issue will be discussed in the future. There were precedents when the European Union suspended sanctions against high-ranking diplomats to allow them to perform their diplomatic functions, she said.
Asked how the EU can have a dialogue with the blacklisted foreign minister, Mora said the current legal conditions of restrictive measures provided for exclusions for visiting international forums. Makei was recently invited to a meeting of foreign ministers of OSCE member states, the EU representative noted.
She thinks diplomats should do their job. The opportunity to travel and have meetings is a part of their job, Maira Mora says.
Answering the question if the EU Council will return to the issue of visa restrictions against Belarusian officials by October 2013, the EU representative said the Council could return to the issue earlier in case of significant events in Belarus.
Speaking about the possibility of inviting the Belarusian leadership to the Eastern Neighbourhood Summit in Vilnius in 2013, Mora said the decision would be taken by the hosting country in close cooperation with other EU member states taking into account the human rights situation in Belarus. The position of Belarus would be taken into consideration as previously, the EU Delegation Head to Belarus said.
Maira Mora reminded that the release and rehabilitation of jailed Belarusian politicians and activists was the main condition for resuming a full dialogue between Brussels and Minsk.
The release of political prisoners and restoration of their civil and political rights is the necessary precondition for resuming a full-scale dialogue, Maira Mora said. The EU would like to hear sober, specific and constructive proposals of Belarus and the country's vision of its relations with the EU, she added.
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