Chairman of the Federation of trade unions of Belarus Leonid Kozik is ready to initiate Lukashenko’s nomination for another presidential term. “Time will come when I will be ready to nominate the president for another term,” – said Kozik at today’s press-conference in Minsk. The head of the trade union federation said that he would be glad to “nominate Lukashenko not only for a third, but fifth consecutive term”.

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International expertise proved that director of the news agency “Ukrainian News” Mikhail Kolomiyts committed a suicide. Such a declaration was publicized today in Kiev. At the moment there are no grounds to assume that the man was killed or even led to a suicide. However, special medical psychiatric expertise is called to find out his pre-mortem state of mind. As you remember, the man was found hung in the Molodechno forest in late October last year.

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The Belarusian writers believe that the language reform must be widely discussed in the society, “Mediafact” was told by the chairman of the Union of Belarusian writers Ales Pashkevich. According to him, the Union’s Council is mostly preoccupied with inserting corrections into the Belarusian tongue. Moreover, said he, the writers always actively engaged in the solution of such problems. Commenting on the expected changes in grammar, Ales Pashkevich stressed that most of them are caused by the need of the moment.

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Liberal-Democratic Party of Belarus, headed by Sergei Gaidukevich, addressed the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bruce George with a proposal to endow the “national assembly” with a concomitant status with the OSCE PA. By so doing the collaborationists, in their view, confirm their devotedness to the “spirit of constructivism and cooperation”. In fact, their address to such an influential European structure is quite weird and consists of a range of thoughtless and elevated phrases and expressions. They called, for example, the deputies of the parliament “citizens of our common beloved homeland”. They only express hope that this address will provoke proper feedback on part of the OSCE.

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During the international conference in Dortmund, which took place late last week, Radio Svaboda correspondent Vitaly Tsygalko interviewed Ivan Kaedjikov – head of the political affairs department of the Council of Europe, responsible for relations with Belarus.

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Alexander Lukashenko will read out his lecture on February 28 before the students of the Belarusian State University. The theme of the lecture will be “Belarus on the crossways of history”. The Belarusian leader will bring up for deliberations the questions of origin and development of the Belarusian national identity and statehood. Part of the lecture will be dedicated to the priorities of the country’s exterior policy. In the aftermath of the lecture he will answer the questions, posed by university professors and students. Feel free to forward your questions to the head of state through radio “Unistar” BSU’s web-site. The questions are accepted by February 20 at the latest.

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February 11 evening deputy Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic Iran Mohsen Aminsade arrived in the capital of Belarus. His official visit, due to last till February 13, is called to usher in the first ever trip to Belarus by the Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.

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Libya plans to set up joint Belarusian-Libyan venture on reconstructing its energy objects. Negotiations on that will be held within the visit to the country on February 16-20 of a delegation of Belarusian energy specialists, headed by the director of “Belvneshenergo” joint stock Alexander Rogovtsov.

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VATICAN CITY, FEB. 10, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II encouraged the rebirth of the Catholic Church in Belarus even as it faces new legal restrictions.
The Pope expressed his support today when he received the Catholic bishops of that country, who are in Rome for their quinquennial visit.
In his address the Holy Father said that Belarus is the former Soviet republic that has undergone the least change since the fall of Communism, and is the least integrated into the rest of Europe. Among those attending the papal audience was Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, 88, archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, a survivor of Siberian labor camps.

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In no time after the turn of the year the government passed the state budget for the year 2003, which envisages only 25bln rubles of expenditures for the Chernobyl privileges, whereas over the past year the accumulated debt on the matter exceeded 16bln rubles.

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The Prime-Minister of Belarus Gennady Novitsky evaluated the Cabinet’s work in the year 2002 as “unsatisfactory”. Reporting to president Lukashenko, the Premier confessed that out of 16 crucial parameters of social-economic development, they only fulfilled eight. Meantime, Novitsky underscored that they have certain prerequisites for meeting the criteria for the following year and pleaded with the head of state “to let them keep working”.

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