Belarusian FM Blackmails :: Charter'97 :: News

Agreements between Belarus and OSCE may significantly change, owing to the NATO Council’s decision on the undesirability of allowing the Belarusian delegation to engage in the summit of the Council of the Euro-Atlantic partnership, said at the Thursday press-conference in Minsk the Minister of foreign affairs of Belarus Mikhail Khvostov.

Khvostov strongly criticized the EU idea to introduce special sanctions against Belarus, in particular, the cessation of issuing EU visas to the Belarusian officials. “Why is EU demanding to allow OSCE presence in our country if, parallel to that, it establishes some sanctions against Belarus?” – wonders the Minister, noting that the issue of imposing sanctions on Belarus can be considered by the Council of Foreign Ministers of EU early next week.
The head of the Foreign Ministry doubts that such a decision can finally be passed, for the EU has no grounds to deny visas to the Belarusian officials. Visa denial to the OSCE AMG representatives cannot serve as a basis for taking up such measures, for it is not linked with the EU. Khvostov assumes that such measures “will undermine EU approaches to the democratic development on the post-Soviet space”.
The head of the Foreign Ministry doesn’t rule out a possibility that they will adequately respond to the EU member-states.