BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

April 22, 2005

Rice urges an end to Belarus tryanny

From Roland Watson in Washington

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, the US Secretary of State, said yesterday that Belarus was the "last dictatorship" in Central Europe and encouraged voters to evict its tyrannical ruler.

"It's time for change in Belarus," Dr Rice said after meeting seven leading Belarussian dissidents in Lithuania. She said the presidential elections next year would provide the opportunity for voters to express their will, and that Washington will watch carefully to ensure that they were free and fair.

Her remarks provoked a caustic response from Sergei Lavrov, her Russian counterpart, who is also in Lithuania for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers. "We would not advocate what some people call regime change anywhere," Mr Lavrov said. "You cannot impose democracy from the outside."

Belarus represents the next prize in the eastward march of European democracy, which has recently seen successful elections in Georgia and Ukraine. Belarus has been ruled by Alexander Lukashenko, its authoritarian and pro-Russian president, for 11 years.

Mr Lukashenko has vowed that he will not be ousted and on Tuesday attacked what he called other Western-backed revolutions in former Soviet republics.

Dr Rice's comments came after a series of tough statements she delivered this week in Russia, accusing President Putin of amassing too much power.

Source:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1579655,00.html