Czech minister warns EU not to ease criticism of Belarus regime :: Charter'97 :: News

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.

Svoboda took part in an informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers which focused on Belarus in Luxembourg on Friday [15 April].

Svoboda said it is startling that no progress is apparent in Belarus. Lukashenka is trying to control all manifestations of public life also in an effort to prevent the democratisation tendencies which have recently been seen in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan from spreading to Belarus, Svoboda said.

Svoboda said the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is irreplaceable in the training of border police in Georgia and monitoring of the border with Russia. He was reacting to Georgia`s demand that the EU substitute for the OSCE just in these fields.

"This organization (OSCE) has 55 members including Russia and the USA, no one can substitute for it. It is evident that Russia would like certain roles of the OSCE to be subdued. But we believe that for instance particularly in the Southern Caucasus, it should continue to do what it did until recently, and to preserve its presence there," Svoboda said.

CTK news agency