It’s time to reassess Belarus-Europe relations, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister says

Though Belarus still doesn’t admit the presence of political prisoners in the country, the EU voiced its intention to “reassess our dialogue and relations” and “find common ground on some issues”.

As “EuroBelarus” Information Service has earlier reported, on July 22 Belarusan Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei took part in the Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, presenting the official position of Minsk on this issue and discussing the current state of affairs and prospects for cooperation in this initiative. Making his plenary statement Uladzimir Makei drew particular attention to the importance of harmonizing different integration processes and engaging Russia in the EaP activities in order to “avoid creation of new dividing lines in the region”.

When asked about the Belarusian political prisoners, Makei showed his surprise, saying that he doesn’t understand what the journalists mean. “None of our European colleagues can show me a list of political prisoners or voice their exact number. Indeed, there are prisoners in Belarus but they were punished for breaking laws, which has nothing in common with politics”, - Belarus Foreign Minister said.

Linas Linkevičius, Lithuania's Foreign Minister believes that the relations between Belarus and the bloc are to be reassessed. The official noted positive improvements in Belarus's foreign policy but admitted that the problem of release and rehabilitation of political prisoners had not been tackled yet, Belsat informs.

“It is time to reassess our dialogue and relations, we cannot neglect the position of Belarus on very important issues, they do not share some sanctions introduced by Russia in the context of the customs union. On the other hand there are problems, there still are political prisoners, we still have questions but we should talk to them and I will do that, I will go to Minsk and try to find common ground on some issues. There is some movement towards a rapprochement, we have to keep the dialogue open,” Linas Linkevičius is reported saying.