BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
19/03/2008
Washington Does Not Expect To Sever Diplomatic Relations With Belarus
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said on March 17 that Washington does not expect Minsk to sever bilateral diplomatic relations and shut down the U.S. Embassy in Belarus, according to the State Department's website. "Obviously, Belarus, like any other country, is free to determine how it wishes to manage its diplomatic relations with us or with other countries," Casey said. "We, of course, have said that we believe it's important and think it's appropriate for us to have senior-level representation in Belarus, among other things, to continue to press for the release of [former presidential candidate Alyaksandr] Kazulin and work on other human rights issues there," he added. The deputy head of the U.S. mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Kyle Scott, has said in Vienna that the U.S. sanctions against Belnaftakhim and some persons "undermining democratic processes and institutions in Belarus" do not violate obligations that the United States took by signing the Helsinki Final Act. "Our actions are fully consistent with our OSCE obligations and commitments and are taken in support of the Belarusian people," Scott said. "Commitments undertaken in the human dimension of the OSCE are matters of direct and legitimate concern of all participating states and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the state concerned." He added that the United States is "particularly baffled by the charge that our action is designed to further some illegitimate interest or infringe upon the sovereignty of the government of Belarus." AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-190308.asp
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