U.S. Senator John McCain calls Belarusian president a dictator :: Charter'97 :: News

Arizona Senator John McCain called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a dictator Saturday and dismissed Belarus` planned October elections as "bogus" during a visit to Latvia on Saturday. Lukashenko, elected in 1994, has garnered Western criticism for ruling his former Soviet republic of 10 million people with an iron hand. The West accuses him of stifling dissent and the independent media.

"President Alexander Lukashenko has manipulated the constitution to solidify his control," McCain said. "He has ordered the disappearances of opposition activists and journalists. He runs Belarus as if it was the Soviet Union, instilling a climate of fear, repression, and arbitrary rule."

McCain was joined in Riga, the Latvian capital, by several Belarusian opposition leaders in condemning Lukashenko`s government, including Valery Frolov, head of the Respublika opposition faction in parliament, who predicted Lukashenko`s days as president were numbered.

McCain and others in a delegation of lawmakers from the United States originally wanted to visit neighboring Belarus on their trip to Nordic, Baltic and eastern European countries, but were denied entry to Belarus earlier this month.

Belarus` Foreign Ministry suggested that the senators might be allowed in after both countries had concluded their respective election campaigns. Parliamentary elections in Belarus are scheduled for October and the U.S. presidential vote takes place in November.

McCain briefly addressed the U.S. race for president, reiterating his support for U.S. President George W. Bush. But the Arizona Republican hedged when asked whether he had his eye on the White House in 2008.

"I had a very close friend that was a member of the United States House of Representatives and he once said, `If you`re a United States senator, unless you`re under indictment or detoxification you can automatically consider yourself a candidate for president of the United States,`" McCain said, drawing a laugh from assembled reporters.

"I have no plans to run for president of the United States," he said. "I am running for re-election to the United States Senate."

The U.S. Senate delegation, which also included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, visited Ukraine earlier this week and urged its leaders to conduct a fair presidential election.

Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York joined the group later Saturday in neighboring Estonia. She said U.S. policy toward the Baltics was unlikely to change significantly should Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry be elected president.

In the Estonian capital, Tallinn, McCain expressed concern over reports of repeated Russian violations of Baltic airspace since the three countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, joined NATO in March.

"We are concerned about the violations of national sovereignty," McCain said. "This has been discussed at NATO and it obviously is an issue of significant concern."

The U.S. delegation has also scheduled visits to Iceland and Norway before returning to the United States.