The current situation in Belarus in the area of so-called third sector, civil and non-governmental organizations and foreign educational centres is rather complicated. Also prior to the Parliamentary elections the situation is becoming more tense. The Head of the Regional Representation of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine and Belarus, doctor Stefan Hrobot, expressed his views regarding cooperation and improvement of a dialogue between the Belarusian authorities and non-governmental organizations.

Britain and Belarus enjoy good cooperation in several fields, British Ambassador Nigel Gould-Davies said at a news conference held in Minsk on June 12 on the occasion of the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

oland is "expecting" the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, Polish Ambassador Henryk Litwin said at an online questions-and-answers session hosted by BelaPAN's newspaper Belorusskiye Novosti on Wednesday.

Hearings “Chernobyl today,“ dedicated to the situation in Belarus, were held in the European Parliament on 17 April. Members of the working group on Belarusian affairs, representatives of the European Commission, and delegations of democratic forces and civil society in Belarus took part in the hearing. The Charter’97 press center talks about the hearing in Brussels with Mikhail Marynich, former political prisoner and member of the organising committee of the civil campaign “European Belarus.”

On April 15 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved the resolution which among other things calls upon Belarus to reverse Article of the Criminal Code which envisages accountability for activities on behalf of an unregistered organization. Cyprus MP Christos Pourgourides, who has prepared a report on abuse of the criminal justice system in Belarus for the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on has answered questions of Radio Svaboda.

“Belarus takes a back seat in the European history, it didn’t understand that neither nuclear Russia nor average by European standards Belarus won’t be able to build relations with the West on their conditions,” Andrei Sannikov, international coordinator of Charter’97 thinks.

The decision of the German political NGO "Friedrich Ebert Foundation" to initiate the closure of its Office in Belarus is not evidence of the refusal of Germany to continue with its policy of engagement with Belarus says Ambassador Gebhardt Weiss. The diplomat pointed out that the decision to close the Office was made in connection with certain difficulties regarding the activities of the Office, however he considers that there is potential for a positive resolution of these issues.