BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/04/2006

Finnish parliamentary delegation meets opposition figures in Belarus

A group of Finnish parliamentarians have visited the Belarus capital Minsk. The visit is the first by parliamentarians of a European Union country since the EU imposed a ban on travel to the EU on a number of leading figures in the country. The ban was imposed in reaction to perceived irregularities in the recent elections in the country.

In addition to the opposition figures, the group also met with one of those banned from travelling to the EU - MP Mikalai Charhinets.

On Wednesday, Liisa Jaakonsaari (SDP), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament, as well as MPs Eero Lankia (Centre), and Suvi-Anne Siimes (Left Alliance), met Alyaksandr Milinekevich, the best-known Presidential candidate of the opposition, as well as Tatyana Protko and Garri Pogonyailo, leaders of the country's Helsinki Committee, which is under the threat of being disbanded.

On Tuesday the group held discussions with Deputy Foreign Minister Alyaksandr Mikhnevich as well as Mikali Charhinets, who is also the chairman of the Parliament's committee of foreign affairs and national security. Charhinets is one of the 31 leading figures in Belarus who, on the tenth of this month, were banned by European Union foreign ministers from entering the EU.

According to the EU, those on the list of banned Belarus politicians had violated electoral and human rights norms, and suppressing the civic society.

Jaakonsaari said that the Finnish delegation was aware that the country's leaders might try to use their visit to promote their own purposes.

With this in mind, Jaakonsaari said that the members of the group made a point at all of their meetings of underscoring the importance of the release of political prisoners.

Jaakonsaari said that the official meetings had two goals: first, the aim was to assure the country's leaders that the tougher line taken by the EU has the support of the parliaments of the member states. Second, the leaders were promised that if Belarus changes its policy on human rights and democracy, the EU would be willing to cooperate.

Jaakonsaari also said that the opposition figures that they met did not object to the group's meetings with the country's leaders, provided that they would convey a clear pro-democracy message.

The Finnish Parliamentary visit is linked with the upcoming Finnish Presidency of the European Union, which begins in July.

According to the web site of the Parliament of Belarus the Finnish guests had "taken up the observance of human rights in Belarus with respect to opposition leaders". According to the item, Charhinets had said that the country abides by its own laws and punishes those who violate them.

Before moving on to Minsk, the Finnish MPs took part in a seminar in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where researchers and opposition politicians from Belarus explained the situation of their country.

At the seminar, Aleh Manayeu, head of the Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS), said that a survey held after the recent elections in Belarus suggests that the official 83 percent of the vote won by President Alyaksandr Lukashenko was exaggerated by about 20 percentage points.

Source:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finnish+parliamentary+delegation+meets+opposition+figures+in+Belarus/1135219679303