Addressing the “parliament”, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the following: “They are reducing it to absurd. They were fussing over Marynich, they showed what kind of person he is, they were saying that he is already dying in prison. And he married on that very evening. But first you are to find out, what kind of person he is”. (Quotation from the official shorthand report from Lukashenka’s official web-site). After these words the “MPs” and “senators” in the hall started to laugh forcedly. They realize very well that the authorities can do the same thing as to Marynich to them in any moment.
Belarus’ opposition leaders are expected to meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Javier Solana, European Union high representative for foreign policy, in Vilnius on April 21.
Poland`s parliamentary speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz has said that the Belarusian president`s attacks on Polish diplomats are scandalous and groundless. This is an address of an irritated dictator, frustrated by the fact that not all people in his country are afraid of him, Cimoszewicz said today. In his Tuesday state of the nation address Alexander Lukashenko lambasted the Polish embassy in Minsk in a surprising explosion of anger in the presence of foreign diplomats, members of parliament and government ministers. He accused Polish diplomats of brainwashing and manipulating Belarusians of Polish descent and destabilizing the country. Polish foreign minister Adam Rotfeld commented that Lukashenko`s address is an expression of mounting internal problems in Belarus.
Belarusian and Russian troops planned and simulated actions in the event of an armed conflict during their recent joint exercise, Aleksandr Lukashenko told Russian generals at a meeting in Minsk on April 20, official sources said.
Last week the court of Kastrychnitski district of Minsk valued the moral damage to the editor-in-chief of the New York – based newspaper “Russkaya Amerika” at 60 million rubles. The American editor-in-chief had demanded 1 million dollars as a compensation for libellous information about him by deputy editor-in-chief of the “Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta” Iryna Khalip in her article “Oklahoma Would Never Learn About Lukashenka”. According to the decision of the court, Iryna Khalip is to pay compensation to Arkadiy Mar amounting to 10 million rubles (more than 4,500 USD), and the private unitary enterprise “Marat” is to pay 50 million rubles (about 23,000 USD).
"I deeply regret the recent decision of the Belarus court to liquidate the Independent Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies," Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said reacting to the ruling by the Belarusian Supreme Court to close down the Institute.
They threaten with exception from the high school to the minor activists of "Zubr" for the political activity. Nikita Shutenkov and Ilya Polonsky were detained by the police for the distribution of independent newspaper "Vybar" on the 17th of April. Protocols under article 172 p.3 of Administrative code (distribution of printed publications without date-line) were complied against the young people.
Lithuanian FM is expecting an answer for the diplomatic note sent to the Belarusian government in connection with the information about the confiscated money which allegedly had been delivered from Lithuania for the Belarusian opposition. Meanwhile Lithuanian media inform that a high-ranking official of the Lithuanian FM told that it had been a provocation not only against the Belarusian oppositi8on, but against Lithuania as well.
The Foreign Ministry of Poland has not commented on the statements of Lukashenka still, however the comment of the head of Polish FM Adam Rotfeld has appeared on the internet-site of the influential Polish daily “Gazeta Wyborcza”, Radio Svaboda informs.
Belarusian politicians predicted that pro-democracy forces may come under even stronger pressure from the authorities after Aleksandr Lukashenko vowed to take “harsh and adequate” steps against what he called any attempts to destabilize the situation in the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Artis Pabriks (People`s Party) said, participating in European Union foreign ministers` informal meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, that launching a European Commission representation in Belarus in the nearest future should be considered.
Outgoing Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda (KDU-CSL) said today the EU must not ease its criticism of the Belarussian regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and must strengthen cooperation with NGOs and organize student exchanges.
With a diplomatic row simmering between Belarus and Ukraine, a Ukrainian official on Tuesday described as “inappropriate” Belarus’ strong-worded response to a scathing resolution adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights last week.
Ukraine settled the debt issues in 2001, when it drew debt rescheduling agreements with all its Paris Club creditors, head of the Foreign Ministry`s Economic Cooperation Department Sergei Kruglyk told a news briefing on Tuesday.
Belarus next? 11:14, 20/04/2005, The Richmond Times-Dispatch
Buoyed by bloodless revolutions in former Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, nearly a thousand Belarussians protested the tyrannical rule of Aleksandr Lukashenko. Unlike the successes their counterparts had in Tbilisi, Kiev, and Bishkek, these demonstrators in Minsk "were beaten back by riot police officers swinging nightsticks," a wire service reports.
President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, under pressure from both the United States and the European Union over his authoritarian rule, said on Tuesday that there would be no Western-inspired "revolution" in his country, and that he would stay in power until 2010.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will come on Wednesday to Minsk on a working visit, where he will participate in a meeting of the joint leadership of the Russian and Belarussian defence ministries, Tass learnt at the Russian Defence Ministry.
Aleksandr Lukashenko’s March 1 edict that prohibits state companies and organizations from providing financial aid without his consent met with opposition from the sports ministry which expressed fears that the new requirement would disrupt tournaments and the renovation of sports facilities. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry suggested bringing the edict into line with the Law “On Physical Culture and Sports” and the 2005 Budget Law which allow the agency to receive sponsorship aid for financing various programs that are not funded from the budget.
Aleksandr Lukashenko, in his annual address to the National Assembly on Tuesday, said that there are plenty of “phonies” involved in trafficking Belarusian women in Minsk-based diplomatic missions, especially in East European countries’ embassies and international company offices.
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