Milinkevich: Conditions of cooperation between EU and Belarus

• 28.11.2008, 11:45

The leader of “For Freedom” movement has sent a letter to Helga Schmid, Policy Unit Director at the EU Council Secretariat, a letter in which he underlined necessity to stop political repressions in Belarus.

The leader of “For Freedom” movement attracts attention of Helga Schmid to the continuation of politically motivated persecution of Belarusian youth. He reminds that the last participant of the Process of Fourteen Alyaksandr Barazenka has already spent a month in a remand prison; that 10 persons involved in this case though not imprisoned, but had been sentenced to unjust punishment, restriction of freedom; that 29 students who are studying in Poland thanks to Kalinouski program cannot return back to their home country because they face criminal cases for alleged draft evasion.

“Supporting the policy of the dialogue and cooperation between the EU and Belarus, I am convinced that the precedent condition for such a policy and the best demonstration of good will of the Belarusian nation would be full and unconditional cessation of politically motivated pressure and repressions against Belarusian pro-democracy activists,” Alyaksandr Milinkevich writes.

In his letter to the Policy Unit Director at the EU Council Secretariat he notes that the Belarusian government is able to make this move which meets principles of moral politics and creation of better conditions for equal and mutually beneficial dialogue and cooperation between Belarus and the EU.

As we have informed, a visit of Helga Schmid to Minsk is planned for the middle of December.