BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

06/04/2006

Belarus would ignore EU criticism of presidential election

MOSCOW, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A Belarussian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) criticism over its recent presidential election would be ignored, saying that is "laughable".

"The European Parliament is making laughable calls on deeming the elections illegitimate," Andrei Popov said in a statement.

Popov made the statement as the European Parliament urged EU governments not to recognize Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was reelected last month, as a legitimate president and called for travel bans on Belarussian officials.

"The choice of the Belarussian people does not need to be accepted or rejected from the outside," the spokesman added.

The March 19 election in Belarus, which saw Lukashenko reelected for a third term with 83 percent of the vote, was branded by the EU and the United States as rigged.

EU foreign ministers due to meet on April 10 are expected to keep up pressure on Belarus.

Editor: Wang Nan

Source:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/06/content_4393991.htm

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