Conference of Aleksander Milinkievich on Belarus

The Robert Schuman Foundation organised a conference-debate on the present situation in Belarus on 6th May together with the French Information Bureau at the European Parliament with Aleksander Milinkievich, democratic opposition leader in Belarus and winner of the Sakharov Prize 2006 awarded by the European Parliament. His speech focussed mainly on the issue of fundamental rights and freedom in Belarus which are not respected; this means that the country is excluded from the International Community (Belarus is the only country in Europe which is not a member of the Council of Europe). He notably spoke of the repression policies implemented by the dictatorial regime in power. He said that the economic situation in Belarus is becoming critical with an ever growing budgetary deficit leading to a situation of real dependence, notably with regard to its eastern neighbour, Russia. He called for democratic development and the enhancement of his country's relations with the European Union and the USA.