OSCE official representative for the freedom of media wasn’t denied entry visa, said the official from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Shuplyak. According to him, the visit of Freimut Duve requires thorough preparation and should coincide in time with the seminar on the Belarusian laws’ adaptation to the European standards, due to be held on September 15 in Minsk under the auspices of PACE. Moreover, the Belarusian “parliament”, which will commence its work on September 2, will consider the draft law on media. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry assumes that these events deserve the attention of the OSCE Media Representative, and it is, therefore, proposed to put off his visit to Belarus till a later date.

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The court of the Moskovsky district of Minsk accepted for consideration a petition of parents of the students of the National State Humanities Lyceum of Yakub Kolas on the illegitimacy of the government’s directive of June 25 on the liquidation of this educational institution.

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The Federation of trade unions of Belarus is harboring new daring plans. As said by its leader Leonid Kozik, the organization intends to get actively involved in the parliamentary elections 2004. FTU chairman declared that at the August 25 press-conference, dedicated to the visit to Minsk of the delegation of the Universal Federation of trade unions of Syria with the organization’s chairman Mohammed Shaban Azuz at the head.

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On August 27 Moscow hosted the meeting of the plenipotentiary ambassador of Belarus in Russia Vladimir Grigoriev with the Sudanese ambassador in Russia Ibragim Al-Bashir Osman Al-Kabashi, accredited also in Belarus.

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ZUBR movement’s activists renamed several villages in the Gluboksky district of the Vitebsk region. The snag is, the local authorities started installing at the entrances to the villages signs with the Russian spelling of their names. The complaint, filed by the villagers, in no time was received by the Vitebsk branch of the ZUBR resistance movement. The activists immediately removed the old signs and replaced them anew with the Belarusian spelled ones.

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Deputy Minister of industry Ivan Zolotorevich, responsible for ideology in the Ministry of industry, is actively carrying out the work on the liquidation of the radio-electronic trade union, reports the national council of the beleaguered trade union.

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OSCE official representative for the freedom of mass media Freimut Duve, whom the Belarusian Foreign Ministry refused to open entry visa for traveling to Belarus on September 1-2, weighs up his chances for paying visit to Belarus this year, calling them minimal. Following you may read Mr.Duve’s exclusive interview:

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A question about the parliamentary factions was raised for consideration at yesterday’s session of the “house of representatives”. Currently, the lower chamber of the Belarusian “parliament” encompasses seven groups. However, as a result of preliminary deliberations on the clarification of their composition, the parliament denied official recognition to the “Republic” faction, recently abandoned by four of its deputies.

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On Monday the news agency “Interfax-news” circulated information on the additional instructions, given by the Belarusian president to the versatile Ministries for launching a national defense concept into action. Some of these orders are laid out below.

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Alexander Lukashenko assumes that one should take time in launching the common currency into circulation on the territory of Belarus within the framework of the “union state”. “This move would eventually mean the amalgamation of Russia and Belarus. No matter how hard we negotiate today and stand firm on our position, we can turn into a dependent country at once and I fear that,” – stated Lukashenko in his Wednesday meeting with the residents of Orsha town (Vitebsk region). According to the Belarusian leader, at present the sides are involved in the “complex negotiation process” on the introduction of common currency issue.

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