BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/04/2006

Belarus opposition accuses authorities

JIM HEINTZ

Associated Press

GOMEL, Belarus - Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich accused Belarusian authorities of obstructing foreign offers to help Belarus overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Milinkevich made the comments Tuesday at a clandestine, opposition-organized conference on Chernobyl in Gomel, the nearest Belarusian city to the nuclear reactor that exploded 20 years ago Wednesday. Authorities in Gomel refused the opposition's application to hold the conference in any public hall in the city.

Milinkevich, who has made several visits to Western countries since being defeated in last month's presidential elections, said officials he meets with overseas frequently ask him about Chernobyl's consequences.

"Democratic countries have a sufficient ability to help, they are interested in helping us," Milinkevich said.

"But it is difficult to work with us," he said of the Belarusian bureaucracy. "Going through all the departments is torture. It is hell."

All foreign aid must be channeled through the government's Department of Humanitarian Aid.

Tuesday's conference, attended by about 40 people, was aimed at challenging authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko's policy of trying to resettle people and restore agriculture in the areas that were heavily affected by the fallout from Chernobyl.

About one-fifth of Belarus' territory was evacuated due to fallout after the reactor exploded in neighboring Ukraine, and the evacuations were a serious blow to the agriculture that is a key part of Belarus' economy.

Viktor Khomich, a university professor and former lawmaker, rejected the Lukashenko government's claim that 25 percent of the national budget is used to counteract the effects of Chernobyl, saying that the real figure was only 4 percent.

The small turnout and poor facilities at the conference were indicative of the challenges the opposition face in trying to push forward a pro-democracy campaign a month after Lukashenko won a third term in widely denounced elections. The vote prompted unprecedented protests that failed to overthrow the government.

The opposition has called a rally for Wednesday in the capital, Minsk, in an apparent attempt to tap into public dismay with both Lukashenko and the Chernobyl aftermath.

Source:

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/14428794.htm