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During his visit to Lithuania on 16 September, the Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that Belarus has pursued an independent policy, and would not yield to pressure from the European Union. In this way, the Belarusian leader signalled that he intended to engage in dialogue with Brussels on his own terms, by seeking to further marginalise human rights and democracy issues, and promote specific economic and energy co-operation projects. more »
In late 2006 and early 2007, relations between Russia and Belarus were hit by the most serious crisis in many years. In a setting of heightened tension, the Belarusian authorities decided to gradually modify their economic policy and thoroughly restructure the ruling class. The new situation created new, much more difficult challenges for the Belarusian opposition. more »
While giving its final approval to the Eastern Partnership the European Council summit in Brussels on 20 March decided to include Belarus in the initiative. This decision seems to be a EU gesture intended to encourage the Belarusian authorities to continue implementing changes in line with the European Union's expectations concerning Belarus. At the same time, however, EU-Belarus relations remain limited. more »
The elections to the House of Representatives (the lower house of the Belarusian parliament), which ended on 28 September, did not meet democratic standards, as the initial OSCE report has expressed. The ballot was marred by numerous violations of the electoral laws, many instances of tampering with the vote count have been detected, and none of the democratic candidates succeeded in entering parliament. more »
Belarus has recently activated its policy towards the European Union. Since the beginning of this year, it has made a number of gestures to meet the expectations of its potential Western partners. Minsk is thus attempting to create a favourable climate for the development of economic co-operation with the EU, which is increasingly important for Belarus. The Belarusian government has also taken concrete measures to attract foreign investors. more »
