Minsk does not need German “couriers”

• 9.02.2012, 14:57

The MFA does not consider necessary a visit of the German human rights commissioner to Belarus.

“The Belarusian party sees no reasons for a visit of Markus Loenign to Minsk. Unfortunately, his 'contribution' to the Belarus-Germany relations cannot be characterized as positive,” Maria Vanshyna, the deputy chief of the information department at the Belarusian MFA, told journalists on Thursday, Interfax-Zapad news agency reports.

The MFA representative noted Belarus did not leave unnoticed the facts of “denial of entry to Germany for Belarusian officials, also for those with a Schengen visa, who were supposed to take part in international events”.

Loening was expected to meet with civil society representatives during his visit to Minsk and hand over a letter from the German foreign minister to the Belarusian leadership. The German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights was denied a Belarusian visa.

“A 'courier' is not needed to hand over a letter mentioned by Mr Loening. There are standard diplomatic channels for such purposes. By the way, the German party has used them and sent the letter today,” the deputy head of the MFA information department said.