The Belarusian State Energy Concern (Belenerha) is "interested" in establishing joint companies with foreign partners and drawing foreign investment into the modernization of the Belarusian energy sector, Alyaksey Skalchuk, a departmental chief at the conglomerate, said at a "roundtable" discussion in Minsk on Thursday.

The European Union “earnestly hopes for gradual re engagement with Belarus and is therefore ready to develop a dialogue with the Belarusian authorities, as with all those participating in the democratic debate,” EU foreign ministers say in a statement issued following an External Relations Council meeting in Luxemburg on Monday, BelaPAN said.

Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday that Minsk is interested “in having a very productive and substantive relationship with the European Union.”

Belarusian opposition politician Alyaksandr Milinkevich met with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg when he arrived in Prague this past weekend, said the press office of the former presidential candidate.
 

It is not yet clear whether the European Union will ease travel for Belarusians and remove its entry ban on the country's officials, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, the current chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

Minsk expects “all sanctions restricting cooperation” with the European Union to be lifted, Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Varanetski told reporters in Minsk on Friday, said BelaPAN.

A Belarusian activist has called on the European Union to participate in dialogue between Belarusian civil society and the country’s authorities.

Javier Solana, the European Union’s high representative for the common foreign and security policy, has invited Belarusian Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers that is to take place in Luxembourg on October 13, AFP reported with reference to Dr. Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach.