Free elections in Belarus to get joint EU-US backing

Date: 12/01/06

The EU and US will this month launch a joint diplomatic drive for free elections in Belarus, with senior officials expected to travel to Minsk ahead of March's presidential vote.

According to diplomats, senior EU and US officials will deliver a joint protest to the Belarussian authorities, in a last-ditch bid to convince President Alexander Lukashenko to make the elections free and fair.

Robert Cooper, director-general for foreign policy on the staff of the Council of Ministers, is expected to represent the EU.

The US State Department would not comment on the joint initiative, but one US official said that it would "continue to monitor closely the elections process in Belarus".

"Another flawed election will have serious repercussions for relations between the Belarussian leadership and the world community of democracies," said the official.

Both the EU and US are currently pressing Belarus to invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to monitor the vote.

Opposition candidates have complained of harassment and unequal access to state television networks.

Belarussian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich will make a high-profile visit to Brussels later this month to garner support from the EU.

EU members have pledged to limit their contacts with Lukashenko but Milinkevich will meet EU foreign ministers on 30 January. He will meet the Council foreign policy chief Javier Solana and may also hold meetings with the presidents of the Parliament and the Commission.

EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss possible measures against Belarus if the polls are not free and fair.

Following a complaint by the International Labour Organisation, some EU states have raised the possibility of sanctions against Belarus's textile exports by excluding the country from the generalised system of preferences.

The extension of a visa ban on senior officials as well as an assets freeze is also under consideration.

Commission officials said this week that EU-funded satellite television broadcasts into Belarus would begin before the elections, despite a delay in awarding the contract.

Article reports that the EU and US were planning a joint diplomatic initiative, to be launched during January 2006, for free elections in Belarus. Senior officials were expected to travel to Minsk ahead of the Presidential elections on 19 March 2006.