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Head of Russian president’s administration meets Belarusian journalists

 

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s administration, talked to a group of Belarusian reporters in the Kremlin on October 13, BelaPAN said.

The meeting, which lasted one hour and 20 minutes, was attended by 24 Belarusian journalists representing both government-controlled and private media outlets, including the newspapers Belorusy i Rynok, Novy Chas, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, Narodnaya Volya, Narodnaya Hazeta, the Belarus edition of Komsomolskaya Pravda, BelGazeta and Nasha Niva, as well as the TV channels Belarusian Television (Channel One) and ONT, and the news websites tut.by, charter97.org, imperiya.by and gazetaby.com.

According to Mr. Naryshkin, the meeting was prompted by “a number of substantial circumstances” and, above all, the Russian leadership’s concern about the current state of the relationship between the two countries.

A return to the former relations between the leaderships of Russia and Belarus is still possible, he said. For this to happen, he noted, Minsk should “realize the harm” of the policy that it has lately pursued regarding Russia and the Belarusian-Russian Union State.

Russia is not to blame for the fact that most of the provisions of the December 8, 1999 Treaty on the Formation of the Belarusian-Russian Union State have not been implemented, Mr. Naryshkin said.

Minsk unfoundedly accuses Russia of departing from the principles of the formation of the Union State because the Belarusian authorities “dislike transition to universal market principles in trade between the two countries,” he noted.

“Owing to temporary considerations, especially amid an election campaign in Belarus, attacks have stepped up and grown into invectives and insults,” he said.

According to him, Minsk tries to explain to the Belarusian voters that social and economic problems are due to Russia’s unfriendly steps.

The Kremlin would “sincerely” like the Belarusian leadership to focus its attention on attempts to "strengthen friendly relations with Russia and restore the atmosphere of trust,” he said.

“We have always viewed Belarus as the most reliable and loyal partner and ally,” he said. “What is important is to ensure that the cooperation is based on the principles of equality and partnership. I am sure that this is in the interests of both nations.”

Mr. Naryshkin said that the forthcoming presidential election in Belarus would largely determine the future of the relationship between the two countries

“These relations will be determined by the degree of compliance of the election procedure with Belarusian regulations and generally recognized democratic standards rather than by whom the Belarusian people will elect as president,” Mr. Naryshkin stressed.

According to him, Russia has always been concerned about the disappearance of four opponents of the Belarusian leader in 1999 and 2000. “The fact that Russia didn`t raise the issue officially before doesn’t mean that we, citizens of a country committed to democratic development, were not concerned about it,” he said.

Mr. Naryshkin said that he was not aware whether Russia’s security services had video evidence that the four men had been killed.

When asked whether Russia might initiate a probe into the disappearances amid rumors that possible suspects and witnesses might have taken refuge in the country, he said that the matter should be addressed based on agreements between the two countries’ law-enforcement agencies.

As for the “Kryostny Batska” (The Godbatska) scathing series about Mr. Lukashenka that have recently been broadcast by Russia’s government-controlled channel NTV, Mr. Naryshkin said that he had watched only fragments, which he noted had not given him an “adequate impression.” According to him, the series went on air only because “the journalists were no longer able to resist their desire to tell people about their investigation.”

The Belarusian journalists traveled to the meeting at the expense of the sending organizations. Russia’s news agency RIA Novosti was the coordinator for the event. The host party served the journalists a dinner.

Video and photo cameras were not allowed. The journalists were allowed to use voice recorders and warned that no verbatim record of the meeting would be issued.