BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/03/2007

Merkel has word of encouragement for Belarus

Guests attending Sunday's signing of the Berlin Declaration reserved some of their loudest applause for a reference Chancellor Angela Merkel made to Belarus.

Speaking about growing up in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Merkel told EU leaders that this was "a defining moment for me: I realized that nothing ever has to stay the way it is. "

"That is a source of immense hope for all those not ready to countenance the injustices of our world. It is a source of immense hope, too, by the way, for those in Europe who still endure oppression - like the people of Belarus.

"Today they are celebrating their independence day. Our thoughts are also with them today and our message to them is: human rights are indivisible! Europe is with you!"

Opposition supporters in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus have been protesting against authoritarian President Aleksander Lukashenko who changed the constitution so he could be elected to a third term last year.

Earlier this week police used force to break up a demonstration in the Belarus capital, Minsk. The protesters accused the president of electoral fraud. dpa ms fs

Source:

http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=25424