Belarus invited to Prague Eastern Partnership meeting

The ministry reacted to a fresh information from Minsk according to which Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov was "not yet" invited to the meeting.

"We invite the whole of Eastern Partnership. I know nothing about Belarus not being invited," Karel Srol, from the Czech Foreign Ministry press office, told CTK.

According to the Belarusian news agency BelaPAN, Petr Mares, Czech ambassador with a special mission for Eastern Partnership, said Belarus has not been invited.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in reaction to Mares that Martynov did not plan to visit Prague anyway.

The Eastern Partnership comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In Prague, these foreign ministers are to meet representatives of Denmark, the European Commission, the Baltic states and the Visegrad Group including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

The Eastern Partnership programme to enhance EU cooperation with the six post-Soviet states was launched in Prague in the spring of 2009 during the Czech Republic's EU presidency.

Belarusian opposition's stormy reaction to what it called rigged presidential elections in December 2010 sparked off a wave of detentions and arrests of dissidents, after which the EU-Belarusian relations sharply worsened.

Brussels has imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko's regime, including the ban of entry for several tens of Belarusian politicians, lawyers and journalists to EU countries.

Mares was in Minsk on a two-day visit during which he met representatives of the Belarusian Foreign, Culture and Education Ministries.

Mares said bilateral relations were on the agenda of the talks, but not the fate of Belarusian political prisoners.

"However, the fate of political prisoners is the first step for the development of relations between the EU and Belarus," he added.

The present state of relations between Brussels and Minsk was in a "blind alley," Mares said.

One can only walk from it through the two sides' effort, Mares said.

"Our hand is offered, but now it is Minsk's turn," BelaPAN quoted Mares as saying.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz