Restricted to travel Navumau to be visited by interior ministers of Ukraine and Russia on Militia Day

• 2.03.2009, 12:47

On March 3, a meeting of ministers of internal affaires of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine is to be held in Minsk. Current state and prospects for further cooperation will be discussed in the frames of the meeting.

As BelaPAN has learnt from the information and PR department of the Ministry of Internal Affaires, Russian minister Rashid Nurgaliev and Ukrainian one Yury Lutsenko arrive in Minsk today to take part in celebrations on an occasion of the Day of Belarusian Militia, marked on March 4.

As the Charter’97 press center has recently reported, Lithuanian media criticised an intention of Lithuanian interior minister Raimundas Palaitis to send a delegation to Minsk for celebration of the anniversary of the Belarusian militia.

Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas called his intention to cooperate with the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affaires “a craving for the Soviet times or a desire to learn how to disperse demonstrations”.

The Lithuanian MFA recommended the Ministry of Internal Affaires not to come to Minsk, central liberalist Palaitis wants to send a high ranking delegation to the Belarusian capital.

The minister of internal affaires of Lithuania can’t head the Lithuanian delegation, as he would like, because the MFA has objections against this.

It should be reminded that peaceful opposition demonstrations and regularly dispersed in Belarus and their participants are beaten. The last dispersed rallies took place on February 14 and 16 – on St Valentine’s Day and the Day of Belarusian Solidarity.

The interior minister of Belarus Uladzimir Navumau is suspected by the international community of involvement in forceful disappearances of famous Belarusian politicians Viktar Hanchar, Anatol Krasouski, Yury Zakharanka, and journalist Zmitser Zavadski.