BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/03/2006

CzechRep to give 20 million in support of Belarussian dissidents

Prague- The government decided today to release 20 million crowns in support of Belorussian dissident groups, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) told reporters.

Svoboda also said that the recent presidential elections in Belarus were manipulated and undemocratic.

Current president Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled in Belarus since the 1990s, won in the elections as expected.

The Czech Republic will use the financial support for scholarships and study stays of oppressed Belarussian students, the spread of information from abroad as well as projects of Belorussian and Czech NGOs and health care for the prosecuted Belarussian citizens.

The Czech Republic ranks among the sharpest critics of Lukashenko's authoritarian regime and has cooperated with Belarussian dissidents in the long run.

($1=23.773 crowns)

Source:

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=180385

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