BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/11/2006

Belarus-EU political forum opens with sharp polemics

MINSK, November 9 (Itar-Tass) - An international political and economic forum that is called upon to build bridges of understanding between Belarus and the West opened here Thursday night with sharp polemics between officials on both sides.

This is the ninth such forum held in Minsk. It was organized by the German-Belarussian Society, the German Fund for Science and Politics, and the German embassy in Minsk.

Vladimir Konoplyov, the speaker of the lower house of Belarussian parliament offered an acute reaction to an opening speech by Bundestag deputy Ronald Pofalla, calling it "a black hawk's statement."

Pofalla, the secretary general of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) reiterated the list of demands that the European Union puts forward to Belarus.

They are "to free all political prisoners, to ensure a real division of powers, to ensure the freedom of association and freedom of traveling, and to stop repressions against the opposition."

Pofalla also supported the EU decision to deny entry to European countries for top Belarussian officials, as well as representatives of certain electoral commissions, law enforcement agencies, and government-controlled mass media.

Konoplyov leveled sharp criticism at Pofalla's position, urging the West to drop the policy of double standards and to change over from confrontation to dialogue and contacts.

"We'll reach in a decade the democracy that took you centuries to build, but we'll never let anyone teach us from the position of force," Konoplyov said.

The Minsk forum has brought together about 300 politicians, diplomats, and business people from many European countries.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10969221&PageNum=0