The agenda of the monthly EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels today is topped by discussions on the pre-electoral situation in Belarus, the future of Afghanistan, the nuclear standoff with Iran, and the EU’s future ties with Iraq.

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Alyaksandr Milinkevich, the united opposition forces` candidate for the 19 March presidential election in Belarus, held an online news conference hosted by RFE/RL`s Belarus Service on 23 January. (Read the full text of the conference in Belarusian.) Below are translated excerpts.

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The administration of Ivatsevichy colony number 22 refutes information that prisoners had announced a mass hunger strike. “Nobody abstains from food, all eat. On the contrary, just try not to give them a gram of food… There is no hunger strike, and especially there is no strike of 30 prisoners,” told Alyaksandr Artyukh, a deputy head of the colony on corrective process and work with personnel.

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January 26, militia officers withdrew the video materials shot in Belarus, from the operator group of the Ukrainian TV-channel “Inter”. The materials were withdrawn “on the suspicion of their “anti-state” contents”. The three videotapes contain materials for the coverage on the Presidential election preparation in Belarus.

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The Belarusian Ministry of Justice passed the second written notice to the BNF Party. As Party’s deputy chairperson Viktar Ivashkievich told BelaPAN, the letter came to the BNF office January 26. The second notice can become the ground for the BNF Party liquidation.

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The Committee on National Security (KGB) is concerned by the activity of Volga Siemchanka, a Magilou University student and active member of youth democratic organizations. The activist treated the «preventive conversation», held with her, as a certain warning, www.belngo.info reports.

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Deputy Head of Smargon District Executive Committee Mr. Shmyga distributed the schedule of demonstration of the video film “Flag and Coat of Arms of my Country” and the cycle of video films “Modern History” among heads of 37 state and private enterprises of the town.

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Zyanon Paznyak is not going to pull out of the election campaign, and his initiative group would not stop working. It was stated in a communication distributed by an informational commission of the Conservative Christian Party Belarusian Popular Front. In particular, the commission announced that the initiative group “for coordination of creation the structures of the National public commission”, which is to collect the results of the people’s voting.

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Aleksandr Lukashenko once again accused Belarus` opposition forces of being guided by mercenary motives in their struggle for power and said that the West has provided money to his opponents for post-election street riots. In an interview broadcast by Belarus` three state-run channels late on Friday, the Belarusian leader said that the opposition needs power "to settle with the West, divide the country" and build their personal wealth.

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Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko touted his work to handle emergencies and care about ordinary people. "I`m fighting these disasters to save our people and prove during this election campaign, prove yet another time that you have a good president and don`t need any other president."

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Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko denied the widespread opinion that he enjoys support from the Kremlin ahead of the March 19 presidential election. "Saying that the Kremlin supports me is complete nonsense. But it is a fact that President Putin would like Lukashenko to remain Belarus` president, as he frankly tells me about this and it may be probably guessed from his manner. And why cannot he want this? He is not giving me money for this anyway," Mr. Lukashenko said in Friday`s televised interview.

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The United States closely monitors the election process in Belarus and is already concerned about its conduct, in particular about one-sided coverage by the state media, George Krol, the US ambassador in Minsk said on Friday.

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European organizations` resolutions on Belarus are becoming more and more specific, Aleksandr Milinkevich, the Belarusian democratic opposition`s common presidential candidate, said on Friday. The politician was commenting to BelaPAN on a resolution adopted by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) the previous day.

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On January 29 a three-day visit to Brussels of the democratic candidate to the presidential race Alyaksandr Milinkevich is planned. As said by an independent internet source EUobserver, it is planned that Alyaksandr Milinkevich is to meet President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, the High Representative of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and with a number of European deputies.

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