EUobserver: Lukashenka visited Switzerland to undergo operation on prostate

• 24.02.2010, 15:23

A Brussels-based EUobsrever.com web resource, covering the conflict of Belarusian authorities with the Union of Poles, tells the reason why Lukashenka suddenly went to Switzerland.

EUobserver.com reports that Uladzimir Senko, Belarusian ambassador to the EU, complained that some Polish "official bodies" have given the EU institutions a "perverted interpretation of [the] real situation in the Polish national minority in Belarus".

He made the remarks in an open letter to the media on Tuesday (23 February) entitled: "EU is concerned, but Belarus asks for patience."

The Belarusian diplomat cited an unspecified “recent” survey in which 97 percent of Poles in Belarus had said they “do not consider themselves to be discriminated or prejudiced [against].”

Touching upon an ongoing debate in Brussels on whether to impose fresh sanctions on Belarus, Mr Senko said: “Any attempts to influence from outside as well as attempts to force the authorities of Belarus to support any of the conflict parties, are not only unacceptable, but also counterproductive.”

Then EUobserver.com writes that struggle between a pro-EU and a pro-Russia faction in President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's administration is going on, with the pro-Russia side ordering the arrests of the Union of Poles’ activists to try to spoil EU relations.

Lukashenka did not intervene because he may have been in Switzerland undergoing an operation on his prostate at the time, according to one senior EU diplomat. In response to this information the Belarusian diplomat said: “That's just gossip. I can't comment on that.”