English

European Union would like to receive signal from Belarus regarding political prisoners

The European Union would like to receive a signal from Belarus regarding the fate of the political prisoners, Gernot Erler, minister of state at the German foreign ministry, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

Dr. Erler emphasized the importance of “trust between the government, civil society and the opposition. In recent months, the Belarusian authorities have laid a foundation for such relations, he noted, expressing hope that the chance of building them would not be missed.

According to Dr. Erler, during unofficial meetings with Belarusian officials, he discussed the possibility of releasing imprisoned opposition politicians in the framework of the forthcoming amnesty without going into the details of each particular case. “This is an opportunity to send a signal that all Europe would understand,” he said. “What is the most important is that this would reveal some readiness of Minsk for ensuring free and fair elections.”

Europe, which saw some problems in Belarus’ presidential race in 2006, will closely follow the nation’s 2008 parliamentary elections, he noted in this regard.