EU Representative Demands To Improve Human Rights Situation In Belarus

Without respect for human rights, the Belarusian authorities cannot count on any "improvement" of relations with the West.

The authorities should make certain concessions in the human rights issue, at least introduce a moratorium on the death penalty.

Head of Division of the Eastern Partnership bilateral, European External Action Service Dirk Schuebel has said this in his speech at the Minsk forum.

He has noted that Belarus is receiving more and more attention in the framework of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”. “The Eastern Partnership” is not aimed at realization of some foreign policy strategies. We want to develop and improve relations with these countries in the bilateral format,” — he has said, the BelaPAN news agency reports.

Herein, Schuebel has noted that Belarus shows an example of a “special approach” in the EU’s bilateral relations. "Today we cannot expect signing an association agreement between Belarus and the EU, but it means we should elaborate other documents. We will move step by step,” — he has said.

According to Schuebel, the EU intends to continue development of interaction with Belarus, use bilateral opportunities of the Eastern Partnership to the maximum to bring about improvement in the relations.