Press Release: EU-Belarus: New message to the people of Belarus

European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner is launching a document setting out what the EU could bring to Belarus, were Belarus to engage in democratisation and respect for human rights and rule of law. The document is being transmitted to the Belarus authorities on 21 November 2006 both in Minsk and Brussels. It contains concrete examples of how the people of Belarus could gain from a rapprochement between the EU and Belarus within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Due to the current political conditions, it has so far not been possible for the EU to offer to Belarus the full advantages of the ENP, which are already enjoyed by other countries in the region including Ukraine and Moldova. The paper makes clear that “the people of Belarus are the first victims of the isolation imposed by the country’s authorities, and will be the first to reap the benefits on offer to a democratic Belarus”.