Foreign Ministry of Belarus accused EU of “double standards” policy
- 18.11.2009, 11:08
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus expressed discontent over extension of sanctions against Belarusian officials.
As informed by “Interfax”, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Papou stated that the conclusion the EU Council made on Belarus on 17 November “suspends” the complex normalization of Belarus-EU relations.
“Unfortunately, the suspending of the complex normalization of the bilateral relations, the restrictive measures still used by the European Union against Belarus contradict the logic of the Belarus-EU dialogue and bear the stain of double standards, disallowing reaching the level of cooperation that would completely suit interests of both sides,” concluded Andrei Papou.
It is also noted in the statement of the press service of the Belarusian MFA that “conclusions (of the Council of EU Foreign ministries heads) to a certain degree reflect the emerging tendency for normalizing relations between our country and the European Union”… “It is confirmed by the declared readiness of the European Union to develop the legal base of relations with our country and the intention to start talks on facilitating visa regulations for Belarus citizens”.
Besides, the Foreign Ministry stated readiness “for tight and result-oriented practical work with the European Union regarding the mentioned issues and all other key matters in our relations. The same fully applies to Belarus’ active and productive contribution to implementing the Eastern Partnership Initiative”.
“It is natural that the pace and content of the improvement of societal and political relations are determined in Belarus solely by interests of the development of the society and the state,” Papou stressed.
We remind that on November 17 the Council of the European Union passed a decision to extend visa sanctions against official Minsk till October 2010. At the same time, these sanctions are “frozen” till October/ the decision was approved without special discussion.