BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/10/2008

Belarus leader blasts NATO after EU concessions

MINSK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday denounced NATO's defence plans and possible further expansion, his first criticism of the West since the European Union eased sanctions on Belarus this week.

Analysts said Lukashenko's new attack on the planned deployment of NATO anti-missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic reflected concern that Belarus still had to negotiate terms for importing gas from Russia.

The president has for more than a year sought improved relations with the West after quarrelling with traditional ally Russia over energy prices.

The EU responded to the release of what it called political prisoners in Belarus and improvements in its conduct by dropping travel bans on Lukashenko and dozens of officials.

'What NATO is doing is practically drawing new lines of division in Europe,' Lukashenko, quoted by local media, told a meeting of Belarus's security council.

'This amounts to NATO's military infrastructure being strengthened right near Belarus's border. Bases for U.S. forces are being placed in eastern European countries and boosting the bloc's offensive potential.'

The West, he said, objected to Belarus's 'independent policies, its refusal to bow down before the powerful'.

Russia objects to the deployment of the anti-missile systems and NATO's pledge that one day ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine will be granted alliance membership.

EU foreign ministers meeting this week suspended for six months a visa ban imposed on Lukashenko after he was accused of rigging his 2006 re-election, together with restrictions on other officials. They also ended a separate four-year-old ban on high-level contacts with Belarussian officials.

But ministers maintained asset freezes on top Belarussians and upheld the ban on Belarus's top election official to show disappointment over shortcomings in a September election in which the opposition again failed to win a seat in parliament.

Relations with the ex-Soviet republic and Brussels have warmed since August, when Belarus freed the last three detainees considered political prisoners and declined to follow Russia in recognising breakaway regions of Georgia as independent.

'The president's criticism of the United States and EU is a clear illustration that there is no real Western trend in Belarus's policies,' said independent analyst Alexander Klaskovsky. 'Minsk will undoubtedly continue dialogue with the West. Its policy will involve manoeuvring between Russia and Western states.'

Belarus has yet to clinch a deal with Russia on gas supplies for next year, but hopes to limit any increase to $140 per 1,000 cubic metres from $128 currently. Russian gas giant Gazprom has suggested it will press for $250 as part of a drive to bring prices for ex-Soviet states up to world levels.

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/10/16/afx5564721.html

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