Alyaksandr Milinkevich, Belarusian opposition leader and presidential hopeful, has told a Slovak daily that many of his compatriots are prepared to take to the streets to protest against vote-rigging in the forthcoming presidential election. He said that they are tired of "living in fear" and will express their dissatisfaction in the same way Ukrainians did during the Orange Revolution in 2004. Milinkevich spoke against union with Russia, but added Belarus should cooperate with its eastern neighbour. Speaking about incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Milinkevich said he could not promise Lukashenka immunity from prosecution even if the president resigned voluntarily. The following is the text of the interview with Milinkevich by Petra Prochazkova published in the Slovak newspaper Sme on 12 October; subheadings inserted editorially:
The German federal government has pledged EUR 50,000 for the European Humanities University (EHU), a private institution established in 1992 and closed by Belarusian authorities in July 2004.
Aleksandr Lukashenko and Viktor Yushchenko are unlikely to meet in the near future, suggests Ukraine`s media spotlight on Tuesday`s visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov to Belarus.
On October 17 representatives of Kobryn city executive committee, Emergency Situations Ministry officials and sanitary station of Kobryn visited a number of unregistered Evangelic churches of the town to spot violations of the law. As a result a report has been filed against the pastor of the church of Evangelic Faith Christians on Kobryn, Mikalay Radkovich. The fine is 25,000 Br. The church is fined for violation of fire regulations, and specifically, the size of fire-extinguisher does not correspond the standards, taking into consideration the floor area.
Reporters Without Borders today said it was disturbed by the death of journalist Vassili Grodnikov of the opposition daily Narodnaya Volya whose body was found with signs of head injuries on 18 October, almost exactly a year after the murder of Veronika Cherkasova of the independent trade union Solidarnost, who very probably killed because of her work.
The team of the Belarusian single democratic candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich has become aware of the fact that KGB (State Security Comittee) officers visited the village of Bershty, Shchuchyn region, where a private house of A.Milinkevich is situated. They ask about the contacts of the candidate in the upcoming presidential race.
Today, on October 20, at Northern cemetery in Minsk, a funeral of Vasil Hrodnikau, journalist of the “Narodnaya Volya” will take place. He was found dead in his house in Zaslaue on October 18. Funeral service in the cemetery church is to start at 2 p.m. Today is also the day when a journalist of the “Solidarnost” Veranika Charkasava was murdered in her apartment in Minsk. Members of the public association “Belarussian Association of Journalists” will go to Kalodzishchy cemetery, where their colleague is buried, from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A Belarusian opposition journalist has been found dead in suspicious circumstances, prompting EU efforts to find out if the incident represents Minsk`s latest attempt to gag independent media in the country.
On October 17, 2004 Alexander Lukashenko organized a national referendum. In result of this referendum, presidency limit of no more that two terms for one person has been erased from the Constitution.
Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affair of Russia Sergej Lavrov declared that in near future Russia would set global rates for energy resources for all countries, including Russian allies. Minister of Foreign Affairs promised to increase prices for energy resources for all consumers, and he declared that privileges for allied should be made in different ways.
The winter rye is already sprouting green in the undulating fields of the state cooperative farm here. The summer`s crop - rye, barley and rape - amounted to 1,400 tons. Best of all, said Vladimir Pryzhenkov, the farm`s director, none of it tested radioactive.
According to him, meanwhile an affiliate of the Belarusian travel agency “U Zheni” which is called “TQ 3 U Zheni Travel Solutions" stationed in the Partizanskiy prospekt 6A accepts documents and applications for visas to Israel.
Djem Bank has not yet fulfilled the National Bank`s order to transfer its dubious assets totaling $16.5 million to Belarus, Anatoly Drozdov, spokesman for the National Bank of Belarus (NBB), told BelaPAN.
Russia and Belarus will hold large-scale joint military training exercises in the first half of 2006, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday.
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