Belarusian MFA asks not to get on nerves

Minsk expects the EU to understand the necessity of establishing a constructive dialogue at the negotiating table.

“We'd like to hope these statements reflect the emerging understanding that the real compromise and a dialogue are possible only at the negotiating table in a calm, respectful and productive environment. Belarusian MFA spokesman Andrei Savinykh said on Monday to Interfax new agency.

He commented on the statements by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and a number of EU foreign ministers following the release of former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov and coordinator of European Belarus civil campaign Zmitser Bandarenka.

“It [the mutually respectful dialogue  - Interfax] is a generally recognized principled position of the Belarusian side,” the representative of the Belarusian MFA stressed. Savinykh said it's important that “the voiced statements should be transferred into real deeds. Only in this case we will be able to implement the process of  de-escalation of our relations,” the spokesman for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.

Commenting on the statements by EU representatives, Savinykh paid attention to the following fact: “All processes in Belarus are being carried out in strict compliance with the Belarusian legislation. There cannot be any attempt to conform to external pressure. On the contrary, the external pressure can hamper the development of the situation,” the Belarusian MFA spokesman said.

The EU leaders welcomed the release of Bandarenka and Sannikov on Sunday.

“I welcome the news that former Presidential candidate Andrei Sannikaw as well as his main

campaign aide Dzmitry Bandarenka are now free and will be able to rejoin their families and

friends,” the EU High Representative on Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, said.

She called on the Belarusian authorities to release all other political prisoners unconditionally and to remove all restrictions on the enjoyment of their civil and political rights. “This

would certainly contribute to possibilities for moving towards improved relations between the EU

and Belarus,” the EU High Representative said.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle called the release of Sannikov and Bandarenka “a fundamental first step one would naturally expect – especially in a situation when the head of state promised to pardon those who asked for it”.

He thinks the release of Sannikov and Bandarenka “took place also in this context and is therefore a first step after which further steps should follow”.