HUMAN RIGHTS & INDEPENDENT MEDIA
Angelica Borys ‘Set Up’ by Lukashenko’s Regime?
Belarusian customs officials claim they have found drugs in a car carrying Angelica Borys, the ousted leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus and two other members of the Union.
But Borys, who was questioned for two hours at the Grodno customs office, believes the package containing 1.5 grams of amphetamine, was planted in the car in yet another action against the opposition as broadly conceived.
Angelica Borys has been victim of police attacks and intimidation since she was elected president of the Union of Poles in Belarus . The authorities did not accept her candidature and orchestrated her removal, forcing the Union to elect new leaders loyal to the government.
The Polish government regards her as a legitimate leader of the Union . Borys has been questioned by the police 80 times since she defied the Lukashenko regime. She and her supporters say the drug discovery affair is a political act against her. Andrzej Poczobut, a leading activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus , describes the incident as an obvious provocation.
“The car in which the President of the Union of Poles travels has always been very thoroughly checked by the border officials and no one in his right mind would try to carry anything illegal in it. And actually, the Belarus authorities are not even trying to make the whole incident seem credible.”
Jakub Boratynski, an expert in Eastern studies at the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw , says the latest events are yet another example of the campaign of harassment and intimidation against the Belarus ian opposition – that includes also independent activists from the Union of Poles in Belarus .
“Oppression is getting harsher and harsher. A watershed was a very severe sentence passed on Alexander Kazulin. The recent conviction of a political activist to 18 months is a reflection of a trend to step up the oppression. I am afraid this is not going to change soon.”
This week a Belarus ian opposition activist was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Dmitryi Dashkevich, a member of the banned Youth Front political group, was charged with activities in a non-registered organization.
Andrzej Poczobut says Dashkevich’s case and the action against Angelica Borys show that the government of Alexander Lukashenko feels its position is being threatened.
“A crisis is looming in relations between Belarus and Russia and the authorities, Alexander Lukashenko feels uncertain,” he says.
Jakub Boratynski agrees with this diagnosis of the situation in Belarus , though he is not sure whether this really uncovers the weakness of the Minsk regime.
“The way the regime has reacted is an expression of an over-exaggerated fear of a repeat of the Ukrainian Orange revolution. Even though there is no evidence that would prove that the opposition is definitely getting stronger. I am not sure to what extent this is an expression of real weakness. Despite squabbles with Russia , we cannot say that Lukashenko has a very strong challenge at home.”
Today some 10 opposition politicians and activists are serving prison terms in Belarus . Among them is former candidate for president Alexander Kazulin sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for staging what the authorities called an illegal demonstration and hooliganism.
Rev. by ed.
Source: Krysia Kolosowska, Polskie Radio; November 2, 2006;
http://www.polskieradio.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=44082&j=2
Belarus Opposition Activist Jailed For 18 Months
A court on Wednesday sentenced an activist opposed to President Alexander Lukashenko to 18 months on charges of joining an unregistered group, a verdict denounced as "pointless" by Belarus ' most prominent opposition figure.
Dmitry Dashkevich, 25, a leader of the Young Front group, was sentenced under tough provisions adopted by the ex-Soviet state's parliament in the run-up to Lukashenko's contested re-election in March.
"This sentence is pointless and harsh," Alexander Milinkevich, one of two opposition candidates to challenge the president's re-election, said outside the courthouse.
"The authorities are afraid of young people, especially when they become organised. They are trying to intimidate people, to stop them from meeting and to persuade them to stay at home."
Milinkevich, warmly greeted in European capitals after losing to Lukashenko, was one of several dozen activists who had gathered outside the court during three days of closed-door sittings. Police detained several protesters on Tuesday.
Dashkevich had been in detention since his arrest in September. His lawyer, Alexander Galiyev, described the sentence as "far, far too harsh. We will, of course, be appealing."
Four members of another group, "Partnership", have been jailed from six months to two years on similar charges.
Lukashenko's re-election, in which he was credited with 83 percent of the vote to six for Milinkevich, sparked unprecedented street protests in the tightly controlled country of 10 million. Police broke them up after four days.
Parliament, where the opposition has no seats, adopted stiff penalties ahead of the election for a series of offences linked to dissent and the dissemination of information. Officials cited the need to counter threats to national security.
Western countries have accused Lukashenko of curbing fundamental freedoms and denounced the March election as blatantly rigged.
Source: Reuters AlertNet; November 1, 2006;
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01558607.htm
Kozulin Said in Prison Hospital Amid Hunger Strike
A jailed opposition leader was taken to a prison hospital Tuesday on the 12th day of a hunger strike he is conducting to draw attention to the Belarus ian government's treatment of its opponents, officials and lawyers said.
Alexander Kozulin was sentenced in July to 5 1/2 years in prison after his conviction on charges of organizing an unsanctioned rally against the disputed March re-election of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Kozulin, who ran against Lukashenko in a campaign marred by widespread arrests and harassment of the opposition, has been on a hunger strike since October 20 and required hospitalization Tuesday, chief prosecutor Pyotr Miklashevich said.
The prosecutor gave no details about Kozulin's condition. Kozulin's lawyer Igor Rynkevich said he was not allowed to visit his client and had been told by administrators at the prison in the city of Vitebsk that the 50-year-old opposition politician "'looks good and happy.'"
Kozulin is conducting the hunger strike in a bid to draw the attention of the U.N. Security Council to "the catastrophic human rights situation in Belarus ," Rynkevych said, citing a letter he said Kozulin gave him during an earlier visit.
Lukashenko has ruled the former Soviet republic of 10 million since 1994 and is shunned by Western nations for prolonging his rule through referendums and votes widely seen as fraudulent and for crushing political opponents.
Source: The International Herald Tribune; October 31, 2006;
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/31/europe/EU_GEN_ Belarus _Opposition.php
Media Freedom in Belarus , U.S.
The contract-style killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on Oct. 7 sent shockwaves throughout the international community, and it was considered a personal tragedy in neighboring Belarus .
Like Russia , this former Soviet republic has its own record of unsolved murders of journalists. Oct. 20 marked the second anniversary of the killing of Veranika Charkasava, a staff writer with the independent Belarus ian newspaper Salidarnasts. She was found dead in her Minsk apartment with 40 stab wounds.
Charkasava contributed to a variety of Belarus ian and Russian periodicals, often criticizing the government's position. Shortly before her death she collected information on Infobank, accused by the U.S. government of laundering money from illegal weapons sales to Iraq .
Her death - and a growing government hostility towards a free press - can be put into some perspective by a study released Tuesday. Every year, Reporters Without Borders presents the Worldwide Press Index ranking how a free press fares around the world.
The United States has fallen nine places, to 53rd, since last year in the Worldwide Press Index released by Reporters Without Borders. The country held the 17th spot in 2002.
"Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security' to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on terrorism.' The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 U.S. states, refuse to recognize the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism," the international media freedom watchdog said.
The index ranked Belarus 151st and Russia 147th.
Denmark (19th) dropped from a share of first place because of serious threats against the artists of the Mohammed cartoons published there in the fall of 2005.
The first 15 countries in the index are members of the European Union, except for Norway (sixth) and Switzerland (eighth), and most of the leaders are still northern European states.
The RSF compiled the index by asking the 14 freedom-of-expression organizations that are its partners worldwide, its network of 130 correspondents, as well as journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists, to answer 50 questions about press freedom. The index covers 168 nations.
Among the countries receiving the lowest rankings are scores of killings and other forms of harassment that suppress the free exchange of information.
On October 18, 2005 , Vasil Hrodnikaw, of the Belarus ian independent daily Narodnaya Volya, was found dead in his apartment outside Minsk with mysterious head injuries. He had been investigating gangs involved in swindling elderly apartment tenants. Investigators said the death was accidental.
The inquiry into the July 2000 disappearance of Belarus ian cameraman Dmitri Zavadski, of the Russian TV station ORT, possibly involving top government officials, has not made recent progress. Investigations conducted by journalists, human rights groups and international organizations such as the Council of Europe have implicated senior Belarus ian officials in the disappearances of the cameraman, two opposition figures and a businessman in 1999 and 2000.
Physical elimination is just one of a range of tools, others being criminal prosecution, libel suits, the denial of access to printing plants and distribution networks.
The Belarus ian government retains control of the broadcast media, printing plants, and newspaper distribution networks using its monopoly to limit public access to information from independent sources during major election campaigns.
Several months before the 2006 presidential election, 14 pro-opposition and independent newspapers were denied services by Belposhta, a national postal service that distributes newspapers by subscription, and Belsayuzdruk, a state monopoly operating the nation's only chain of newsstands and newspaper kiosks. Tight licensing requirements prevent private periodicals from establishing distribution systems.
Belarus , a country of about 10 million, has 11 local and five national private newspapers covering politics, economy and society. Due to the combination of restrictions, none of these periodicals is able to inform its readers of what happened on the previous day. The papers' circulation shrunk sharply in the last few years because of the printing and distribution problems.
The largest pro-opposition national newspaper, the Narodnaya Volya, is printed in the Russian city of Smolensk and has had its print run decreased from 30,000 of 11,000 copies after it was banished from the state distribution system at the end of 2005. On the other side of the fence, the biggest state-owned newspaper, the Sovetskaya Belorussiya, saw its daily sales increase to more than 500,000 copies. Government-controlled newspapers enjoy considerable subsidies and financial privileges. Civil servants, teachers, doctors and other state-funded sector employees often are forced to subscribe to state-owned newspapers although they may not like them.
Only three independent newspapers still have access to the nationwide distribution system; others, like the BDG Delovaya Gazeta, stopped publishing print versions and went online or are heavily reliant on financial assistance from political groups (the Narodnaya Volya) and donors (the Nasha Niva).
President Lukashenka was declared to have won a third term at elections in March following a vote which Western observers said was fundamentally flawed. They reported widespread harassment of opposition supporters and overwhelming media bias. Official results indicated that Lukashenka had won 83 percent of the vote.
A former state farm director, he was first elected in 1994 on an anti-corruption ticket in a free and fair race. Televised debates played a crucial role in his victory over his main rival Vyacheslaw Kebich, who was prime minister at the time. He also took advantage of the press, which enjoyed considerable freedom after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Before and immediately after the 1994 presidential race Lukashenka pledged to safeguard media freedom. A few months after he was elected newspapers ran blank spaces instead of columns removed by censors. The Lukashenka government dismissed the editors of the Sovetskaya Belorussiya and the Narodnaya Volya and closed critical radio and television stations. Attacks on the press went on for years.
As more people, especially the younger generation, look for news from alternative sources online, Belarus ian journalists fear that the authorities' next move will be to establish control over Internet news outlets by making them subject to the Ministry of Information.
It is natural for Lukashenka to strong-arm leaders to hide things under the carpet, just as it is natural for the public to seek the truth.
Belarus ian independent journalists view the United States as a high standard of democracy and freedom. It is important to remember that setbacks for media freedom in the United States have a negative impact on countries like Belarus .
Alyaksandr Yanusik is a Belarus ian journalist spending two weeks in The Star's newsroom.
Source: Alyaksandr Yanusik; The Anniston Star; October 29, 2006;
http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2006/as-insight-1029-0-6j28v3744.htm
Seven Opposition Activists Detained in Belarus
Police detained seven opposition activists Sunday during an annual march in the Belarus capital Minsk commemorating the victims of Stalinist purges, one of the organizers of the event said.
About 1,000 people took part in the authorized march from downtown Minsk to a site of Soviet-era mass executions on the outskirts of the capital.
Several hundred police were present to monitor the gathering. Some participants carried posters with the slogans: "No to Union with Russia !" and " Union with Russia Means Hunger and Killings." Mikola Kryzhanovsky, from the opposition Conservative-Christian party, said that police arrested seven activists.
Police did not confirm the detentions. The marchers carried 12 wooden crosses which they set up at the Kuropaty mass grave site, where about 100,000 people were shot dead between 1937 and 1941.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 10 million since 1994, quashing opposition groups and independent media, leading Western nations to call him " Europe 's last dictator" and treat him as a pariah. An open admirer of the Soviet Union , he has signed a loose union treaty with Russia .
"Political repression in Belarus continues and Kuropaty reminds Belarus ians what frightening consequences tyranny leads to," Kryzhanovsky told the marchers.
Police on Sunday detained an aide to opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich in the city of Grodno , 300 kilometers (190 miles) west of Minsk , Milinkevich's press spokesman Pavel Mozheiko told The Associated Press.
Andrei Kuselchuk was accused of distributing unauthorized documents, the opposition spokesman said.
On Monday in Minsk , the leader of an unregistered opposition youth group, Emitser Dashkevich, is to go on trial on charges of illegal political activity. He faces a jail sentence of up to a three years if found guilty.
Source: The International Herald Tribune; October 29, 2006 ; http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/29/europe/EU_GEN_ Belarus _Opposition.php
Belarus Protest
About 1,000 parishioners of an evangelical Christian church in Minsk, Belarus , rallied to protest its possible closure by authorities in the ex-Soviet nation.
The New Life church bought an unused building and a patch of surrounding land three years ago and made improvements, but the authorities last year ordered the church to vacate the building and sell it to the government at a nominal price.
"We are facing a tougher persecution than even during the Communist times," said one protester, Yelena Kuchinskaya. She held a banner saying "We are Praying for Belarus ."
The Oct. 21 rally was sanctioned by the authorities, and police intervene.
"Freedom of conscience must return to Belarus ," Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko said at the rally. He said that about 40 parishioners had been on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest the church closure.
President Alexander Lukashenko initiated and signed legislation in 2002 that strongly favors the dominant Russian Orthodox Church and restricts the activities of smaller religious groups.
Three lawsuits and an appeal to Lukashenko have failed to reverse the decision, and the parishioners, who number about 2,000, fear the government will take steps to force them out.
Source: TuscaloosaNews.Com; October 29, 2006 ; http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061028/NEWS/610280303/1084/entertainment4
Friends of Disappeared Belarus ian Cameraman Launch Website
Relatives and friends of cameraman Dzmitry Zavadski, who disappeared in 2000 and is widely believed to have been abducted, have launched a website (http://www.zavadsky.org) detailing the circumstances of journalist's disappearance. "This will be the webpage of the Dzmitry Zavadski foundation, which will attract the attention of its visitors not only to the problem of Dzmitry's disappearance but also to problems of the independent media and Belarus in general," Svyatlana Zavadskaya, the wife of the journalist, told Belapan on October 25. The site is expected to carry articles by both Belarus ian and foreign journalists. "We are already reaching agreement on this with Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian colleagues," Zavadskaya added.
Source: RFE/RL; October 26, 2006;
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/10/3-CEE/cee-261006.asp
DOMESTIC
No Politically-Motivated Expulsions of Students in Belarus - Minister
Belarusian Education Minister Alexander Radkov denied reports alleging politically-motivated expulsions of students from Belarus ian colleges and universities.
"We have not expelled and will not expel a single student for their political activities or political views. Expulsions have been only because of academic failures," Radkov said taking questions from Belarus ian parliamentarians in Minsk on Friday.
"Following the presidential elections, I held a meeting with the rectors and asked them not to provide a pretext to anybody to say that we expel someone for their political views," he said.
"There is no mass outflow of Belarusian students abroad. We are only talking about individual cases," he said.
"You should not yield to tricks by some speculators who are trying to use students for their own purposes," Radkov said.
Source: Interfax; October 28, 2006;
http://www.interfax.com/3/207534/news.aspx
Fairy-Tale About Time Loss
The next Congress of Democratic Forces will take place till March 25, 2007 . It means that the opposition leaders will fight straight-out for the revision of titles.
Radio Svaboda (RFE/RL Belarus ian Service) reports that the democratic coalition agreed to elect a head of the political council at the Congress. This head will then, in his turn, nominate a candidate for the national committee chair and will appoint a secretariat head. Anatoly Lebedko, head of the United Civil Party, stated that the opposition finally ended the discussion on the main questions and they can start working.
Thus, we now can sum up the results of the democratic forces’ activity for the first year after the presidential elections. From April to October the opposition leaders argued about whether to hold the Congress of Democratic Forces. Now the opposition activists will be busy trying to get as many seats as possible in the congress for their supporters. The essence of the conflict is very simple: Anatoly Lebedko wants to take the title of leader of the democratic forces from Aleksandr Milinkevich, the ex-candidate for the presidency.
It is good that our opposition politicians routinely measure their political powers. It is bad that they use the Congress of Democratic Forces as a measurement tool. The Congress is not good for this measurement at all.
For the last year, the opposition tried various leaders’ nomination mechanisms. In 2001, the democratic forces’ unified candidate was determined by a narrow circle of five people, those who had registered themselves as candidates for the presidency. Lately, that method has been denounced as depraved. Then the “broad community” selected the next rival for Aleksandr Lukashenko at the next elections. But the results were the same.
It’s time to think why the opposition candidate is looking like the winner of a soccer game. But no, the opposition doesn’t try to think about this, instead , they decided to act like characters out of a Krylov fable. The concert failed due to the ill disposition of the musicians. Now at the next congress we will elect the person everybody really wanted and then, look out, Lukashenko!
All this is just an imitation of political activity. We can file a lot of complaints against Aleksandr Milinkevich but to consider him a major initiator of the routine failure of democrats would be daft. The results of the so-called presidential elections would be the same, regardless of whether Anatoly Lebedko, Sergei Kalyagin or Mr. X were the candidate of the democratic forces. Thus, it is essential to change not the leader but the real correlation of power between the opposition and the authorities. How to do that? This question is very difficult. So instead of answering this question we would better hold another Congress of Democratic Forces.
It is absolutely unimportant who will be elected a political council head and who will get the comforting title of a national committee head at the forthcoming congress. The redistribution of titles inside the opposition, as well as keeping the existing structure, will not influence the political situation at all. Nether Milinkevich not Lebedko, not other opposition politicians have been able to offer any clear and convincing action program. Though, it is not essential to lead the political council or the national committee to work out such a program. Thus it does not matter which of the opposition politicians wins the Congress.
Trans. by Ed.
Source: Aleksandr Starekevich, Solidarnost; October 27, 2006 ; http://www.gazetaby.com./index.php?sn_nid=3274&sn_cat=32
Belarus Eyes First Nuclear Power Plant in 2015
Belarus wants to develop atomic power engineering and plans to launch the first reactor in 2015 with Russian assistance, the Russian Rosenergoatom Company said on Thursday quoting Chief Engineer of Belenergo power utility Alexander Sivak.
“Permanent growth in prices for natural gas, which is the main source of electricity in Belarus , does not strengthen the economy of the state,” Sivak was quoted as saying during a visit to the Russian Kalinin nuclear power plant (NPP) this week.
Belarus suffered most from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in neighboring Ukraine in 1986 and Sivak said the opinion of the residents of the territory, where the plant is planned, will be taken into consideration. However, he quoted a poll by the national Academy of Sciences as showing “there is a trend of change in the negative attitude of the people… to the construction of nuclear power plants”.
Sivak admitted Belarus has no necessary scientific, technical and production capacities to build an NPP. “Therefore, we shall eye all potential suppliers of equipment, assembly and engineering services. It must be clear to everyone that priority will be given to the Russian Federation ,” he said.
Source: Itar-Tass; October 27, 2006;
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10928471&PageNum=0
Will Opposition Boycott Local Elections in Belarus ?
On January 14, 2007, voters in Belarus will again go to the polls to elect local governments. The opposition, including the United Democratic Forces (UDF) movement, is debating the wisdom of participating in another election that is little more than a façade. A majority, encouraged by supporters outside the country, has opted to do so. However, there is a groundswell of informed opinion that suggests that a boycott of elections in which equal access to the media and election commissions is denied to the opposition is a more logical policy.
That conditions are weighted in favor of the regime is hardly in doubt. In at least two of the six regional commissions organizing these elections (Mahileu and Brest ), there is not a single representative of the opposition. This is reportedly also the case also with the commission formed in the city of Minsk . On October 12, the Central Election Commission, chaired by the president's close ally, Lidziya Yarmoshyna, announced that the process of nominating representatives to the territorial election commissions would end on October 17. That decision limited the possibility of many opposition delegates submitting their documents in time. The election rules, amended by the government according to Presidential Decree No. 607, require a single round based on a first-past-the post system.
The opposition has no problems with the timeline for running as deputies. This stage begins on November 5 and ends one month later. It is anticipated that some 700-900 opposition candidates will run for the 22,641 seats. They are led by the United Civic Party (203 members running for local councils), the Party of the Belarus ian Popular Front (about 180), the Party of Communists (130), and the Social-Democratic Party (100) led by the imprisoned former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin, who recently started another hunger strike to protest his sentence. UDF leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich is not running personally but is serving as the supporter of a large group of candidates.
In an article in the Narodnaya Volya newspaper, Anatol Lyabedzka, leader of the United Civic Party, suggests that the UDF should hold a Congress of Democratic Forces and combine it with a discussion about the strategy for electing delegates to local councils. Lyabedzka has for some time tried to pressure Milinkevich, who appears again in the role of rival rather than partner, to hold such a Congress. But there would be little time to develop a strategy for a meaningful election campaign.
Critiques of the opposition and its readiness to run in another election are manifest. Writing in Narodnaya Volya, Dr. Vyachaslau Orhish noted that it would be a small miracle if the local councils contained more than 50 democrats after the January elections. He commented that opposition leaders were banging their heads against a brick wall. After every election, he remarked, they simply rush into the next one without taking any steps to try to establish equal conditions for the campaign participants. They have no access to the state TV, radio, or the press, and the election commissions are oriented toward the promotion of pro-government candidates. "Under such circumstances," he writes, "it is not possible to realize the democratic alternative through elections."
Orhish is particularly critical of Milinkevich, a man "who claims to be" the leader of the political opposition, and who participates in the elections because they provide an opportunity to present democratic ideas to the Belarus ian people. The implication is that the United Democratic Forces can have limited public impact under the unequal conditions. Elections thus bolster rather than weaken the authoritarian regime of Lukashenka.
This opinion finds resonance with at least two opposition groups: the Conservative Christian Party of the BPF, led by the exiled Zyanon Paznyak, maintains that it is senseless to take part in elections under the present circumstances. To participate in them is to mislead themselves and the voters. The leader of the Social Democratic Hramada, Stanislau Shushkevich, likewise maintains that the opposition should stop playing into the hands of the regime. The new Electoral Code, in his view, leaves little chance for the opposition to succeed in the January elections in which "only fools may participate." Kazulin, despite the decision of his party to participate, made similar comments in September, but his party evidently ignored his advice.
The arguments against a boycott are that the elections, however rigged, offer opportunities to mobilize democratic forces. Yet participation followed by inevitable defeat not only helps to solidify the Lukashenka regime, but also conveys the impression that the democrats' cause is hopeless. Hans-Georg Wieck, former head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus , asserted recently that Lukashenka is facing a crisis (a "dead-end road"), but no such predicament is evident to the Belarus ian electorate. The UDF performed creditably in the presidential election, but it did not unite all democratic forces, nor did it succeed in altering significantly the conditions under which elections are held. It lost in part because it failed to convince the electorate that democratic change was more important than (perceived) economic security.
The democratic opposition may need to rethink its strategies rather than simply respond to initiatives of the regime, including elections under constantly changing rules that ensure "elegant" presidential victories.
(Belorusy i Rynok, October 16; Charter 97, October 20; Narodnaya volya, October 20; Hans-Georg Wieck, " Belarus without Lukashenko--A Realistic Alternative," October 14; Belorusskie Novosti, October 16)
Source: David Marples, Eurasia Daily Monitor; October 26, 2006; http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371580
REGIONAL
Single Migration Cards For Russia and Belarus
A single migration card has begun circulating in Russia and Belarus.
“Foreign citizens or people without citizenship should fill up this card while entering the territory of the union state from a third country,” Viktor Filistovich, the Belarus ian Deputy Interior Minister, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
A foreigner should follow the registration procedures within 72 hours after entering, except for weekends and holidays.
“The normative and legal base has been shaped in compliance with the agreement signed between the Belarus ian Interior Ministry and the Russian Federal Migration Service,” he said.
Old migration cards will expire on January 1, 2007 .
Rev. by ed.
Source: Itar-Tass; November 1, 2006;
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10942760&PageNum=0
Lukashenko: I Am Preparing for Meeting With Putin
At the meeting with the governor of the Stavropol region today, Lukashenko discussed his forthcoming meeting with Russian President. In his opinion, the meeting with Vladimir Putin, planned for November 9-10 in Moscow, might become decisive for the fate of the Union State.
“I am getting ready for the meeting. I ordered to the government to analyze all our agreements with Russia, and all our actions. I did it in order to tell my colleague here: that is what we agreed on, that is what we did, and that is what we did not do,” Lukashenko stated.
He added that this analysis will be submitted to all Russian governors.
“We are going through a certain stage in the building of the State. I will not say it is an easy stage. You must have noticed that even at the top level there is no clear understanding what we should do today and tomorrow and what exactly we should achieve,” Lukashenko said, acknowledging that serious problems exist.
Later, he continued in his usual style of “look how good I am”, and portraying the situation as “it is not my fault, I am forced.”
“I am categorically against destruction of state relations, it is absolutely impossible to break state agreements. I am against building any boundaries between us. I do not understand why Russia built the border with Belarus? If it is the strategy of Russia, they have to say about it honestly so we will not just face the fact. Today we came to speaking about the economic integration,’ Lukashenko complained about Russia to Governor Chernogorov.
“If you put it this way, than the Custom Union is enough for us” Lukashenko counterattacked. “We will also build the custom border, as you built it. And within two days, you would be able to get your frontier troops to this border. We know you are ready to do it.”
“So we filled up Russia with sugar so much that you can not even breath,” he continued his wail.
“We have never posted questions about the Russian internal economy; we have never reproached Russia with privatization questions. At the same time we hear from you about what you do not like [i.e. obstacles to privatization – Ed.] in Belarus. But we do not want to sell certain state property,” Lukashenko admitted.
“I am sad to say that because I am an active supporter of our union. We also have some questions but we have always tried to follow the union agreements,” he said.
“Despite what’s happening in the intergovernmental relations we have more positive there. Even these arguments are the way to find the truth. In these arguments we always find the path to go in order to avoid mistakes in future,” Lukashenko said. He also explained that “nobody can change our relations, they are uncompromising. Nobody, not Lukashenko, nor Putin, can change them. People will not let it.”
“In Belarus we have never raised a question about turning to left, right, or to the West. We are in Europe and we have to cooperate with all European countries, if they want to. We understand the role of the USA in the world, but we do not cringe before this huge country, as many do. We are not going to stay face to face and make a confrontation at the diplomatic level. In Belarus we clearly understand the line adopted ten years ago at the conference and we follow that line,” Lukashenko explained the position of Belarus.
“You can be sure, we will be easy to understand and to predict at any stage of our countries development,” Lukashenko promised.
Lukashenko called the Governor Chernogorov a firm ally in building the Union State.
“If everybody in Russia thinks and acts like he does we would be living in the Union State already for a long time” Interfax quotes Lukashenko.
Rev. and trans. by editor
Source: AFN; October 31, 2006;
http://www.afn.by/news/default.asp?pg=3&newsid=80046#data
Belarus Looks for Alternative to Gazprom
Belarus and Ukraine have actually confirmed the possibility of establishing some gas partnership bypassing Russia . Belarus made clear it is looking for gas suppliers that would be alternative to Gazprom, while UkrgazEnergo said it will probably sell around 7 billion cu meters of gas to the third party in 2007.
"We may negotiate about energy security of our country with whom we think necessary," Belarus ' Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky told the reporters past Friday when asked about the possible purchase of gas bypassing Russia .
A week ago, Ukrtransgaz reported it sealed a protocol with Beltransgaz to control the export flow of Russia 's gas towards Europe . The protocol provides for delivering up to 7 billion cu meters from Ukraine to Belarus via the old pipeline. But the source of such additional amount was unknown.
However, on Friday UkrgazEnergo Board Chairman Igor Voronin officially announced that Swiss Rosukrenergo (RUE) will deliver 62 billion cu meters of gas to be sold in Ukraine in 2007. Of that amount, Ukraine needs 55 billion cu meters, and no contracts have been made for the remaining 7 billion so far.
Ukraine may sell gas to Belarus at $135/ths cu meters to $140/ths cu meters, sources with the government of Ukraine said some time earlier.
The alternative gas supplies could become a new argument in the gas talks of Belarus and Gazprom. Belarus gets the gas at $46.68/ths cu meters this year, but the price will go up to $200/ths cu meters, Gazprom announced in April.
Source: Kommersant; October 30, 2006;
http://www.kommersant.com/p717483/Belarus_gas_price_alernative/
INTERNATIONAL
Iran Vice President: No limits on Ties with Belarus
First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi has reiterated that the Islamic Republic of Iran has no limits on expansion of ties with Belarus in different fields, referring to the common viewpoints of Iran and Belarus on the world and regional issues.
According to the Presidential Media Department on Monday, at a meeting with Belarusian deputy prime minister, Davoudi said the expansion of relations would be effective in providing prosperity for both nations. He also added that Tehran and Minsk have potentials for increasing cooperation in different fields of energy, production of agricultural machinery and petrochemicals.
Belarusian official Vladimir Semachko said that energy is very important for his country, adding that Belarus hopes to increase cooperation with Iran in different fields, including discovery, extraction and production of oil.
Rev. by ed.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency; October 30, 2006;
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0610308799223645.htm
Cuban Parliament President in Belarus
Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon said in Minsk that his current visit to Belarus will further boost political and friendly relations between both countries.
Alarcon made his statement upon his arrival in the capital Minsk on Sunday. He said he was willing to address different bilateral cooperation issues in his talks with Belarusian authorities.
The three-day working visit by the Cuban Parliament President to Belarus is also aimed at further strengthening relations between the parliaments of both countries, Granma daily reports.
Rev. by ed.
Source: Cuba News Agency; October 30, 2006; http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu/idioma/ingles/2006/oct30alarconbelarus.htm
European Parliament Awards Sakharov Prize to Belarus Opposition Leader
The European Parliament has awarded its annual human rights prize to the top opposition leader in Belarus , citing his push for democratic reforms in the former Soviet republic.
The award of the Sakharov Prize to Alexander Milinkevich Thursday follows European Union moves this week to widen punitive travel bans on top Belarusian officials widely accused of suppressing democracy in their homeland.
Milinkevich ran unsuccessfully in March against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in an election widely condemned in the West as fraudulent.
A top member of the European assembly, Has Gert Poettering, called Milinkevich a brave man and the face of the opposition in the last dictatorship in Europe .
In Minsk, Milinkevich told Reuters news agency he will donate his $63,000 prize money to help Belarusians who have suffered for their democratic political ideals.
The prize is named after leading Soviet human rights activist Andrei Sakharov. The European Parliament awards it to a person or group judged to have made a particular contribution to the promotion of human rights, international cooperation, democracy or the rule of law.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
Source: VOA News; October 26, 2006;
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-10-26-voa46.cfm
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