Belarusian opposition leader says there will be demonstrations if elections are rigged
31 January 2006, AP BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Belarusian opposition leader said Tuesday his supporters would stage street demonstrations against March presidential elections if the voting was deemed as rigged in favor of hardline President Alexander Lukashenko. Alexander Milinkevich, the founder of Belarus' largest network of non-governmental organizations, predicted the March 19 vote would be flawed, saying it was impossible for any election under Lukashenko to be free, fair and transparent. "If you call such demonstrations a revolution, then I think that that will in fact be a revolution," Milinkevich told reporters at the European Parliament in Brussels, where he was holding talks for several days with EU officials, seeing support for his cause. "In principle, we are against revolutions, but if the regime does not comply with these standards, there are a lot of people who will demonstrate to defend their principles and their honor," he said. Such revolutions, or mass demonstrations, have been staged in three former Soviet republics in recent years, helping to bring pro-Western leaders to power in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan and irritating regional power Russia, which considered them part of its sphere of influence. EU foreign ministers said Monday they were ready to take "restrictive measures" if the elections failed to meet international standards. Such measures could include visa restrictions and economic sanctions, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. "I have asked Mr. Milinkevich to convey to the Belarusian people the message that their country belongs to the family of European nations," said Hans-Gert Poettering, the head of the Christian Democrat faction in the European Parliament. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, quashing opposition groups and independent media, leading Western countries to dub him "Europe's last dictator" and treat him as a pariah. The opposition has faced mounting pressure before the March 19 presidential elections, while its campaigning has been shut out by the state media. Three of eight opposition candidates have dropped out of the race, citing harassment. The ex-Soviet nation of 10 million is the only European country rejected as a member of the Council of Europe, the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights. For years Belarus has relied on Russia as its chief ally, but Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday appeared to distance himself from Lukashenko. While defending the Kremlin's close ties with its Slavic neighbor, Putin said those ties were not about "supporting the regime, but supporting the brotherly Belarusian people." As in Ukraine last year, Belarusian voters face a geopolitical choice between a pro-Western course under Milinkevich and remaining within Russia's sphere under Lukashenko. "Most Belarus citizens want to go toward Europe and be part of it," Milinkevich said, adding that if he won he would "like to reconstruct good relations with the West" and "maintain pragmatic relations with Russia, except perhaps in the military field." He called on EU nations to send as many election observers as possible for the elections. Lukashenko has warned repeatedly against Western interference and threatened to crack down on any opposition efforts to launch so-called "colored revolutions," a reference to those staged in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/23789/ Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
