Milinkevich: “EU decision is fair”

• 17.11.2009, 15:44

The leader of the “For Freedom” movement supports the decision of the European Union on extension and suspension of sanctions on Belarusian officials.

According to the leader of the “For Freedom” movement Alyaksandr Milinkevich, the conclusion of the EU Council on extension of visa restrictions on official Minsk for a year until October 2010 and on temporal suspension of these sanctions for a year is “fair and faithful”. He told this in an interview to Radio Svaboda.

“This decision is logical,” the politician says. “The Belarusian authorities don’t probably understand this. But it is logical, because no one is going to isolate Belarus, everyone wants cooperation. But cooperation should be based on moral values, and the Belarusian authorities should demonstrate they seek to carry out political reforms and liberalize Belarus. But there were only few signals and insignificant changes, if any, in this direction.”

Alyaksandr Milinkevich thinks the Belarusian authorities should draw a conclusion from the decision of the EU Council.

“This is a victory of moral positions the EU is based on. I believe the EU cannot depart from its fundamental values only for cooperation with Belarus. I hope the Belarusian authorities will understand they and the people of Belarus have got a good chance for close cooperation and even integration in the EU. They must make conclusions. Europe shows by its actions that Belarus is a European state and must meet the criteria for cooperation presented to all countries,” the leader of the “For Freedom” movement says.