BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/04/2006

Belorussian opposition leader says demos made a difference

The main Belorussian opposition leader on a visit to Strasbourg has stressed that barriers have been broken in Belarus. Alexander Milinkevich said the demonstrations after last month's election had given people hope. "I believe that after the vote a lot of people in Belarus, lots of citizens, overcame the fear that exists in our country, today they can fight for their honour and their future, and that's the biggest consequence for us," he told EuroNews.

"But the situation is pretty difficult because there aren't any sources of information, the media is occupied by the powers of a dictator. And what's more the majority of the parties and NGOs aren't officially registered, so it's all pretty clandestine activity." The opposition is predicting protests when President Alexander Lukashenko's sworn in this weekend. The election was widely condemned as rigged by the West, although Lukashenko's is broadly popular in many parts of the former Soviet state.

Source:

http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&article=352327&lng=1