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Belarus boycotted a meeting of Eastern Partnership member-countries, held on March 5 in Prague. According to Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, Belarus refused to attend the meeting because head of the Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov hadn’t been invited, unlike his deputy.
In addition to the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), the meeting was attended by the member-countries of the Visegrad Four (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic), as well as EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, officials from the Baltic states and Denmark's Trade Minister, reports Radio "Liberty."
In a joint statement issued in Prague, foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four and the Baltic states registered concern about developments in Belarus, including what they said was a lack of any improvement on human rights and the continuing repression of civil society combined with the absence of any deep democratic and economic reforms.
The foreign ministers also expressed concern about worsening relations between the EU and Belarus. They stressed substantial change in Belarusian policies could pave the way for the resumption of political dialogue with Belarusian authorities. They also called on Belarus to release and rehabilitate all political prisoners.
In the absence of a Belarusian delegation, foreign ministers from the EU’s other five Eastern Partnership countries were introduced to the Visegrad Four’s new initiative. It aims to support political and economic reforms in six former Soviet republics that are part of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program.
As Telegraf previously reported, February 28, Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Belarus permanent representative to the European Union and Ambassador of Belarus to Poland for consultations in Minsk in connection with the expansion of the EU sanctions. The Head of the EU Delegation in Belarus and Poland's ambassador were also invited to leave for their capitals for consultations. In response, all the EU member-states have agreed to withdraw their ambassadors from Belarus.
