BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/05/2006

EU freezes Belaurus assets

From correspondents in Brussels

THE European Union agreed today to freeze the assets of 36 top Belarussian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, accused of rigging March elections and cracking down on opponents.

The widely flagged measure covers ministers, prosecutors and regional election organisers and follows a travel ban imposed on Mr Lukashenko and other officials last month.

Mr Lukashenko was number one on the asset freeze list.

Others included the head of the presidential administration, Gennady Nevyglas, the ministers of education, information and justice, the speaker of parliament's lower house and the head of the security service still known by its Soviet-era KGB acronym.

An EU statement said the new sanction specified that "no funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the persons involved".

Belarussian officials condemned the measure as pointless and unhelpful in improving poor relations with the West.

"This is totally unconstructive, biased and, most of all, groundless," said Nikolai Lazovik, who appeared on the list as head of the Central Election Commission which oversaw Mr Lukashenko's landslide re-election.

Mr Lazovik said hundreds of Western observers present during the election were unable to provide any concrete facts about irregularities in the course of the vote.

"This move is pointless and ineffective," he said, adding that he had no assets outside Belarus.

"You cannot help but laugh at such measures."

A foreign ministry official was also dismissive.

"Declarations about accounts of some sort are complete nonsense," the official said.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and the EU move will do nothing to help the atmosphere before an EU-Russia summit next Friday, where delicate issues such as Russian energy policy and the bloc's efforts to deepen ties with former communist states could create tensions.

EU states have vowed to help Belarussian civil society, including enabling students to study in the EU and by enhancing access to independent media.

Western countries and Belarus's opposition denounced as blatantly rigged the March election, in which Mr Lukashenko was credited with 83 per cent to six per cent for his nearest rival.

The poll sparked unprecedented protests in the tightly controlled ex-Soviet state, tolerated by police for four days before they were dispersed. More than 600 activists were given jail sentences of up to 15 days for public order offences.

Source:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19186869-1702,00.html