The Luxembourg presidency of the European Union has joined appeals to the Belarusian authorities to revise the Supreme Court’s April 15 decision to close down the Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS). The Supreme Court ordered the sociological center liquidated on the initiative of the justice ministry, which alleged irregularities in its activities.

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The leaders of Belarus’ pro-democracy youth movement and Ukraine’s National Alliance have signed a cooperation accord. While signing the agreement, Belarusian activist Dmitry Dashkevich noted that the country’s youth opposition movement and the Ukrainian association have maintained close contacts after some 200 Belarusian youths took part in last year’s “orange revolution,” a series of street protests in Kyiv that brought the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko to power.

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British Ambassador Brian Bennett said that the European Commission may open its mission in Minsk. The European Commission has administered its Tacis program in Belarus through its office in Kyiv, the diplomat told reporters in Minsk on Monday. “Unfortunately, it [the office] is a long way away,” he said.

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During the detention the passport of the MP of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation Andrei Klimov was lost, told the assistant of Andrei Klimov, Timofey Dranchuk to the press center of the Charter’97. The politician according to the ruling of the city prosecutor’s office is to spend the nest week behind the bars, but he cannot be placed to the detention facility of the Minsk executive committee Interior Affairs department without an ID. Besides, it has turned out that he had spent the last three days in the isolation detention center illegally.

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“Belarus is a completely different country, but I am convinced that in Belarus people sooner or later would demand more freedom and democracy. There is no alternative to civil society now. In the 21st century the concept of a centralized, dictator’s power is outdated,” told Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski in his interview to Austrian newspaper “Die Presse”. “The history teaches us that the oppressed society once is to awaken and demand freedom. It is a question of time, and it is impossible to predict the moment. Would it happen this year, in 2006, or later? If not, the catastrophe could occur. But nobody wants that”.

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Polish analysts doubt that Moscow would seriously clash with Washington to defend Lukashenka. As one of the experts noted, the loudest statements about support of Belarus were voiced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. At the same time, Putin was carefully avoiding this issue. “Revolution is possible in Belarus. Lukashenka wants to prevent it with the help of cooperation with Putin”, - wrote Polish newspaper «Rzeczpospolita». “However Russian president cannot guarantee him a lot. The West is no longer a patient listener of his views. Moreover, the leaders of Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, who had been seeking support of Putin, are no longer ruling in their countries. It is a warning for Lukashenka and a temptation for the Belarusian opposition”.

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Remarks by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attacking Belarus as the "last dictatorship in Europe" have provoked a defiant reaction in the country`s pro-government media.

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The work of the UN Commission on Human Rights is “rather politicised”, and adopting the resolution on Belarus is “only one of the examples, maybe the most blatant one” of the double standards in the sphere of rights and freedoms. This point of view was expressed by the Russia`s permanent representative at the UN Geneva office Leonid Skotnikov, summarizing the results f the 61st session of the Commission.

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Belarus is grateful to Russia for “colossal” support in the international arena. Alyaksandr Lukashenka told about it on April 22 in Moscow during the meeting with journalists following the results of the session of the Supreme State Council of the so-called Russia-Belarus Union, Novosti news agency informs.

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Aleksandr Milinkevich, one of the leaders of Belarus` third sector who has no party affiliation, was proposed for opposition forces` single presidential candidate as a result of a regional conference of the Mogilyov region`s opposition groups, which was held in Mogilyov on April 23.

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Aleksandr Voitovich, former president of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences (1997-2000) who chaired the Council of the Republic (upper chamber of the National Assembly) between 2000 and 2003, told BelaPAN that he intended to run in the country`s 2006 presidential election.

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Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has thanked his Russian counterpart for his support during a meeting in Moscow. His public show of gratitude follows remarks by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice describing Belarus as the last true dictatorship in Europe. Mr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin were meeting to discuss trade relations and plans for a single currency.

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Russia’s papers commented with enthusiasm on the meeting of the Supreme State Council of Belarus and Russia in Moscow on April 22. “Our response to Condoleezza. Strong-worded statements by the US secretary of state drew Russia and Belarus closer,” says the headline in Tribuna.

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Moscow, which furiously resisted outside influence in its "near abroad" only a few months ago, is now much more muted in its response to changes in the political alignment of the former Soviet empire. Last week, Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, set out a clear prospectus for two former Soviet states, boosting Nato`s ties with Ukraine and meeting opposition leaders from Belarus.

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The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, arrived here Friday for talks with Vladimir Putin and urged the Russian president to keep moving toward unification between their two countries.

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Poland is “watching the Belarusian authorities’ repressive measures against the Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) with great concern,” the Polish embassy in Belarus quoted Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, speaker of Poland’s Sejm, as telling Radio Zet on Wednesday.

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The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, the countries forming a bloc called GUUAM, strongly denounced the political situation in Belarus at a summit in Cishinau, Moldova, on April 22.

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United Nations human-rights chief Louise Arbour delivered a stinging report to the UN`s top rights forum yesterday, saying the way it singled out just four states for rebuke was "not credible."

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Belarus needs to think of some response to countries criticizing it for alleged human rights abuses and supporting the opposition, Nikolai Cherginets, a committee chairman in the upper chamber of the Belarusian National Assembly, told BelaPAN.

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The press office of the US Embassy in Moscow has denied the possibility of a meeting between Presidents George Bush of the United States and Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus in Moscow, RIA Novosti reported.

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