BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/10/2007

Milinkevich honoured at Forum 2000

Prague, Oct 8 (CTK) - Belarusian opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich who is attending the Forum 2000 conference in Prague Monday received Hanno R.Ellenbogen Citizenship Award that he said he perceived as a recognition of the Belarusian opposition democratic effort.

Milinkevich, a former opposition presidential candidate persecuted by the regime of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko, said he was glad to receive the award in Prague that helped the Belarusian people many times in the past.

Former Czechoslovak and Czech president Vaclav Havel, the organiser of the Forum 2000 annual conferences, told CTK today he was aware of the high authority Milinkevich enjoys among his people.

While handing over the prize to Milinkevich, Havel said jokingly he firmly believed that Milinkevich would sooner or later become Belarusian president.

Milinkevich ran for Belarusian president unsuccessfully in 2006. He lost to Lukashenko in the rigged presidential elections and the regime brutally dispersed the following demonstrations organised by the opposition.

"Freedom will triumph in Belarus sooner or later. It is impossible for such an enclave to last for ever. We know from our own experience that something could suddenly trigger a snowball that will turn into an avalanche within days," Havel said.

Former Czechoslovak foreign minister Jiri Dinestbier declined to fully compare the current situation in Belarus with the situation in the totalitarian Czechoslovakia before the 1989 fall of communism.

"They are more experienced, but Lukashenko keeps power with a firm hand. In addition, he still has support of a majority of the population, for instance, in villages where they have no information," Dienstbier said.

However, Milinkevich and other courageous people have started slowly reforming the Belarusian system, he said.

The prize was presented to Milinkevich by director of the Prague Society for International Cooperation Marc Ellenbogen. The award received the name after his mother, a Prague German who spent years with her family in the post-war divided Germany and married an American army soldier.

The award was established with the goal to contribute to overcoming barriers among nations and people.

The previous winners usually gave the money that goes with the award to young people. Milinkevich has decided to give it to his dissident friend Paval Sieviarynets, the founder of the opposition Malady Front (Young Front) organisation.

Source:

http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/186/czech_national_news/13089/