Contents tagged with Belarus
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Lithuanian Foreign Minister threatened Belarus with sanctions if they take new political prisoners
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius intimated that Western countries could impose new sanctions against Belarus if political prisoners appear there again. This was his comment on the suppression of protests in Minsk which took place on Saturday, Delfi news portal reports.
According to Linkevičius, such actions would be detrimental to Belarus’s standing in the international community. "This will in fact affect not only internal policy where it might destabilize the situation. It will …
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Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament: Russia could use Zapad-2017 exercises for direct aggression
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, said that the joint Russian-Belarusian exercises "Zapad-2017" (West-2017), which will be held in the fall of 2017, could be used for direct aggression or sabotage against Ukraine, Ukrinform news agency reports.
"The current ‘West-2017’ military exercises cause concern in Ukraine ... We should not exclude the worst case scenario: the use of exercises to at minimum to discredit Belarus, and at maximum - to carry out direct aggression …
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Belarusian opposition leader Statkevich mysteriously disappeared
Mikola Statkevich, one of the leaders of the Belarusian National Congress or BNK, has disappeared and has not contacted anyone since March 23, his wife, Marina Adamovich told Deutsche Welle.
Statkevich was supposed to be in Minsk near the Academy of Sciences for Freedom Day on Saturday, March 25. As the BNK organizer for the event, he had planned for a procession to start along the main avenue of the Belarusian capital but he never showed up.
"The last time I saw Mikola was on Thursday …
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Polish President disappointed with Lukashenko’s handling of the protests
President of Poland Andrzej Duda is disappointed with the reaction of Belarusian authorities toward participants of a protest rally held on Freedom Day, March 25th.
He said this at a meeting with the presidents of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as reported by Onet, with reference to Polish Press Agency.
“I watched with great disappointment how the Belarusian authorities dealt with the protesters,” Duda said.
He also said that he is concerned about the detention of Polish citizens in …
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Lukashenko accuses the US and Germany of financing militants in Belarus
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said that the armed militants who were allegedly preparing attacks in the country were funded by the USA and Germany, as he stated on Friday, March 24th, during a visit to the Grodno region, BelTA news agency reports.
"They are offended because they heard my statement made in Mogilev about Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland. But what if it is really like that?! The Americans and Germans funded this through the Poles and Lithuanians. Most of the money …
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Belarus says dozens of Ukraine-trained militants were arrested, Kyiv demands proof
On March 21, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that “several dozen militants” were arrested. He claims that they were trained in Ukraine. “We have already arrested several dozen, who have trained in camps with weapons. Incidentally, one of the camps was in the Babruysk and Asipovichy region. The rest of the camps were in Ukraine, in my opinion, in Lithuania or in Poland – I won’t make any claims, but somewhere there. Money came through Poland and Lithuania to us. At this hour we …
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Lukashenko said NATO observers will be allowed to attend joint Russian-Belarusian exercises
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said that the joint Belarusian-Russian exercise "Zapad-2017" will have purely defensive objectives so the representatives of NATO should be allowed to observe them. BelTA reports that he made the statement during consideration of the report on organizing joint strategic exercises between the Armed Forces of Belarus and Russia.
"I demand cooperation from all of you so that this event on our country’s territory remains transparent. All activities …
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Lukashenko demands that government officials find work for their 'relatives and lovers'
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko demanded that all government officials find employment for all of their non-working relatives, spouses and lovers. He said this at the meeting on topical issues of the country's development, BelTA news agency reports.
"I want to be heard by those who are sitting here now and by others in the media later today. For now, I am addressing government officials and other important people in the country: please, find employment for your wives, husbands, …
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Thousands in Belarus protest against the tax on parasitism
More than a thousand of people protesting against the “tax on parasitism” walked along the central streets of Belarusian city of Brest and blocked traffic flow on the city’s main motorway.
The protesters chanted “Enough!”, “Lukashenko, go away!”, “We don’t want to pay thieves, parasites and cops”. “No salary – there’s a tax, the deputy’s purse. The real sponger is the person who invented the decree.”
A number of the participants in the unsanctioned action – about 150 people – agreed to go …
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Russia increases the price of gas for Belarus
The price of Russian gas for Belarus has risen by 6.81 percent from January 1, 2017, from 132 dollars to 141.1 dollars per thousand cubic meters. This was stated in a letter dated January 25, addressed by the Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, Valery Golubev to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, as reported by RBC news agency.
The authenticity of the letter was confirmed to RBC by officials in the Energy Ministry in Moscow and Minsk. In the letter, Golubev describes …