Secretary of State Clinton will travel to Vilnius, Lithuania from June 30th to July 1st in order to participate in the Community of Democracies Sixth Ministerial. The ministerial will bring together senior government officials, parliamentarians, NGOs, women and youth leaders, and the private sector to advance the shared goals of strengthening civil society and supporting emerging democracies. While there, the Secretary will also hold bilateral meetings with the President Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Kubilius, and other Lithuanian officials. Briefing on the Upcoming Community of Democracies Meeting in Vilnius took place in Washington on June 24, 2011.
26.06
Armenia, Croatia, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Belarus agreed to perform stress tests for their nuclear power plants following the on-going similar re-assessment process in the EU.
26.06
Belarus plans to appeal to international courts over the EU sanctions, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told reporters during his working trip to Brest Oblast.
24.06
World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Mr. Martin Raiser has completed a three-day visit to Belarus as part of the ongoing policy dialogue on the structural reform priorities and the scope of World Bank’s advisory and technical assistance in Belarus.
24.06
European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek calls on Belarusian authorities to immediately release the protesters arrested yesterday evening in Minsk, who remain in detention or face trial. This was the weekly "silent" protest, organised through social networks and taking place in many cities across the country. Among the hundreds detained, there were also independent journalists.
24.06
Interfax-West: Yesterday, during a rally, a Swedish diplomat was detained . What is the position of the Foreign Ministry on this issue? Is it a violation of the Vienna Convention?
24.06
The head of state made this statement during his working trip to Brest Oblast on 23 June, BelTA has learnt.
24.06
Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets said that further cooperation with the IMF would depend on the adjustment of macroeconomic policies in Belarus. Andrei Kharkovets did not specify the size of the loam that Belarus could request from the IMF.
24.06
Yesterday several hundred participants in peaceful and silent protests in Minsk and other cities in Belarus were taken into temporary custody. Over a dozen now face fines or even prison sentences. After the rigged presidential elections on 19 December 2010 several dozen opposition activists – including five presidential candidates – received prison sentences.
23.06
"We condemn the violence towards, and arrests of, peaceful demonstrators carried out by the Belarusian regime. Only yesterday evening, a Swedish diplomat in Minsk was also subjected to this violence. This is completely unacceptable and constitutes further confirmation of the country's lack of respect for fundamental democratic rights, a shortcoming that Sweden and the EU have clearly criticised on a great number of occasions."
"In response to what has happened we are today summoning the Belarusian ambassador."
21.06
The EU shouldn't have introduced new restrictions against the Belarusian leadership. This was stated by commissioner of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, on June 21. "Such a policy is counterproductive. No matter how difficult a dialogue is with one or another state in the legal field, this dialogue is necessary," he said.
21.06
On 20 June, Foreign Minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis took part in the
]]>
regular meeting of European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.
]]>
21.06
The Failed States Index is an annual ranking of 177 nations based on their levels of stability and the pressures they face. The Index is based on The Fund for Peace’s proprietary Conflict Assessment Software Tool (CAST) analytical platform.
21.06
21.06
Comment by the Head of Information Department — Press Secretary of the MFA Andrei Savinykh in connection with the
]]>
decision of the EU Council of June 20, 2011.
]]>
20.06
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may reject Belarus’ request for a stabilization loan only on politically motivated grounds, Alexander Lukashenko said at a news conference in Minsk on Friday.
20.06
Following the conclusion of the 17th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the Council's work on a number of key issues including human rights in Libya, Syria and Belarus.
20.06
The Belarusian side views the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Belarus as groundless and politically motivated, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh said when commenting the Resolution, BelTA has learned.
20.06
The abolition of visas is not on the Belarus-EU agenda yet, Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov told reporters following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on 20 June, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
20.06
A tycoon identified as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's personal bag man is likely see three of his companies frozen out of doing business in the EU.
20.06
The Council decided today to strengthen its restrictive measures against Belarus in view of the deteriorating human rights, democracy and rule-of-law situation there. It will now impose an arms embargo and an export ban on materials that might be used for internal repression.
