BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/04/2009

Belarus leader meets Pope in landmark trip

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko met Monday with Pope Benedict XVI during his first trip to western Europe since an EU travel ban was relaxed in October, the Vatican said.

The authoritarian leader, once dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the United States, made the Vatican and Italy his first foray to the region since 1996, when he visited France.

Citing Belarus's dismal human rights record, including the jailing of opposition members and charges of election rigging in 2006, the EU had placed Lukashenko and dozens of Belarussian officials on a travel blacklist.

However, in recent months there has been a warming of EU-Belarus ties, to the irritation of Minsk's neighbour Russia, and the Vatican said the pair met in a "positive atmosphere."

The pope and Lukashenko discussed the situation of the Catholic Church in Belarus, the Vatican said in its statement, adding that the pair discussed inter-faith and international issues.

"If you find the time, we will meet on Belarussian soil -- if that is God's will," Lukashenko said after the 20-minute meeting, to which he brought his five-year-old son.

Belarus has been invited to attend an EU summit in Prague on May to launch the bloc's "Eastern Partnership" with fellow former Soviet bloc states Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090427/wl_afp/vaticanpopebelarusitalydiplomacy_20090427155429

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