Expert: Authorities ready to release political prisoners
But MEP Justas Paleckis would not have been allowed in Belarus, if he demanded to meet with political prisoners prior to his visit
"... We can speak of a signal from the Belarusian side: the
fact that the European Parliament delegation Rapporteur on Belarus Justas Paleckis has been allowed to visit our country means that the Belarusian
side is inclined to restore
contact with Brussel," says
analyst Dzyanis Melyantsou.
"Still, there is a ban on high-level contacts between the EU and Belarus the same as it was," adds leader of the Fair
World party Syarhei Kalyakin.
Rapporteur of the European Parliament
Delegation for Belarus Justas
Paleckis arrived in Belarus on March 18. The politician gathers information for his report "on the state of relations between the EU
and Belarus".
Justas Paleckis
Experienced
people saw much more behind this visit. For example, they saw evidence that the
ban on contacts between top officials of the EU and our country was abolished.
"Paleckis’ task is to
assess the situation, whether the implementation of EU’s line of
co-operation is possible, are there any positive changes, whether they are
possible, and to offer a further way of interaction, " says
the “Fair World” leader Syarhei Kalyakin to Euroradio. He met with the European
politician on the first day of his visit to Minsk.
According to Euroradio, Paleckis raised the issue of political prisoners during
a meeting with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Alena Kupchyna. The EU
will be consistent in its demand to release political prisoners. As for the
fact that the speaker himself will not meet with them ...
Dzyanis Melyantsou:
"... if he demanded to
meet with political prisoners, they simply wouldn’t have allowed him into the
country."
The official Minsk is mentally prepared to release political prisoners, says
Melyantsou. Another thing - the EU ...
Dzyanis Melyantsou:
"Minsk wants certain
guarantees, to have some bonuses after this step. The EU is not ready to
provide any guarantees or bonuses by now. There are talks on this topic now and
it slows down the period of positive messages."
We'll wait, too.
