BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
13/03/2008
Authoritarian Belarusian leader could get Western public relations help
The Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is known to some in the West as "Europe's last dictator."
Now, he may get some Western public relations help in a bid to shed that image.
Lukashenko met Thursday with prominent British PR executive Timothy Bell and suggested he is hiring Bell to burnish the image of Belarus.
Lukashenko's iron-handed rule and intolerance of dissent in the former Soviet republic have made him a pariah in the West. He and other senior officials are barred from traveling to the U.S. and the EU - punishment for the government's treatment of its critics.
In a portion of the meeting shown on Belarusian state TV, Lukashenko said no country can do without professional public relations support these days.
"You will find it pleasant to work in Belarus, in our country, with the people and the authorities that exist in Belarus," Lukashenko said. "You will be convinced that Belarus is a European state, and our people through history have done a great deal for Europe."
The report did not show Bell speaking, and it did not specifically say that he or his company had been hired.
Bell's office in Britain would not immediately comment.
Bell is best known for his work as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's close adviser. His recent clients include British-based Russian tycoon and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky, Saudi Arabia's government and former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/13/europe/EU-GEN-Belarus-Public-Relations.php
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