BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

31/01/2007

Belarus blasts Russia over energy prices

Source ::: REUTERS

MINSK ? President Alexander Lukashenko, enraged by a row with Russia over energy prices, accused the Kremlin yesterday of trying to crush Belarus and vowed to ?sort out? his fraught relations with European states.

However, the European Union?s commissioner for external relations condemned Belarus authorities for closing the Minsk office of a prominent human rights group, the latest step in what Western nations see as systematic abuse of human rights.

Lukashenko had based 12 years in power on close links with Moscow, but since a New Year dispute with former Soviet masters in Moscow, he has looked to better ties with European nations he has long portrayed as interfering and arrogant.

?We recognise that our policy of developing in multiple directions has been turned into a single direction,? he said after meeting Russian opposition Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.

?It is very important for us to sort out our relations with the West...Europe has seen that it, too, depends on Belarus in terms of energy supplies. Europe now views Belarus in a new way.

A new situation has emerged.? Lukashenko, quoted by the state BelTA news agency, said the January dispute made Europe well aware of the difficulties of dealing with Russia as a supplier.

Russia cut oil flows through the ?Druzhba? (Friendship) pipeline for three days after raising the price of oil to Belarus and accusing it of siphoning off shipments. Moscow also doubled the price of gas to its western neighbour.

Belarus initially tried to impose a duty on oil transit to the West, but relented and oil flows resumed.

?Attempts are under way to choke and crush Belarus,? BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying. ?We are simply being abused. You can see what is going on now in the media.? ?But they are doing this under instructions from the Kremlin.

This I can tell you for certain.? Lukashenko has advocated a post-Soviet merger with Russia since the mid-1990s, but now opposes any such move that could place in doubt Belarus?s political and economic independence ? long dependent on cheap energy imports from Moscow.

Western countries accuse Lukashenko of hounding opponents, closing down independent media and routinely rigging elections ? including his re-election last year to a third term.

The EU?s commissioner for external relations expressed regret on Tuesday at the closure of the Minsk office of the Belarus Helsinki Committee, a prominent human rights group.

Source:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=January2007&file=World_News2007013113046.xml