BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

12/01/2007

PACE head hopes oil dispute will boost market economy in Belarus

MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti) - The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expressed his hope Friday that the recent oil and gas dispute between Russia and Belarus could encourage Minsk to expedite its transition to a market economy.

Rene van der Linden, who is currently on a visit to Moscow, said PACE could play an important role in promoting market reforms in Belarus because his organization has a more flexible mandate than other international bodies, including the European Union.

Russia halted deliveries to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline January 7, saying Belarus was illegally tapping oil following a tit-for-tat price and tariff dispute. Belarus imposed a transit levy of $45 per metric ton of crude after Moscow doubled the price of natural gas and introduced a duty on oil supplies to Belarus as of January 1.

The interruption in supplies has affected Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and further damaged Russia's reputation as a core energy supplier to Europe following a similar energy row with Ukraine involving natural gas this time last year.

An agreement between Moscow and Minsk was reached to resume deliveries Wednesday following a telephone conversation between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko.

The PACE head said the purpose of his visit to Belarus next week was to find ways to improve relations between the ex-Soviet state and Europe, which have been deteriorating steadily over the past decade.

In April 2006, the European Union Council approved a proposal to ban 31 Belarusian officials from entering the EU after the March presidential election in the country was declared fraudulent by international observers and opposition leaders.

In October, the EU expanded the list of banned officials to 35.

The EU also decided last year to freeze the accounts of the country's authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

During his upcoming visit, van der Linden is scheduled to meet with the speaker of the Belarusian parliament, the foreign minister, opposition members and NGO representatives.

While in Moscow, the PACE president also discussed with Russian officials relations between Europe and Russia, particularly in regard to its human rights record and the progress of democratic reforms in the country.

Van der Linden said Russia must fulfill its obligations to abolish the death penalty by ratifying Protocol 6 of the European Human Rights Convention. Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996, but has not abolished it formally.

He also said he regretted the decision of the lower house of the Russian Parliament to postpone the ratification of the 14th Protocol to the European Human Rights Convention concerning the reform of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Russia remains the only member of the Council of Europe that has not ratified the protocol.

An effective human rights court is the most important condition that would allow all member-countries to fulfill their obligations within the Council of Europe, van der Linden said.

The PACE president said there was no need to conduct an international probe into the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya as long as the Russian authorities are investigating the murder.

Politkovskaya, 48, known for her criticism of the Kremlin's policy in Chechnya, was gunned down in an apparent contract killing in a lift in her apartment bloc in Moscow October 7, 2006.

Van der Linden said PACE will continue monitoring the investigation and is ready to offer any assistance if necessary.

The PACE head also called for the further liberalization of the visa regime between the EU and Russia.

He said the regime should be changed because at present it hinders the effective exchange of students and academics, and does not contribute to the development of business contacts.

In addition, van der Linden expressed regret over the adoption of a law in Estonia permitting the demolition or transfer of a monument to Soviet soldiers in the capital, Tallinn, but said that the decisions made by national parliaments must nonetheless be respected.

Estonia's State Assembly passed the bill on Wednesday, paving the way for the dismantling of monuments to Soviet soldiers who died liberating the Baltic state from German invaders during the Second World War, but who are themselves seen by many Estonians as having been occupiers.

The decision sparked off a sharp criticism from Russian officials and public figures.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070112/58983953.html