Democratic activist Leanid Navitsky is still kept at the Partisansky district militia department in Minsk. Lawyer Pavel Sapelka was not allowed to meet with the defendant. He was not brought to the court either.

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Minsk expects Moscow to decide on giving Belarus a stabilization loan, Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski told reporters while touring the Minsk region on September 20. He noted that the presidents of Belarus and Russia had reached an agreement on such a loan.

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A joint enterprise to organize the extraction and processing of brown coal in Belarus will be registered within a week, Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski said while touring the Minsk region on September 20.

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Leader of the movement “For Freedom” Aliaksandr Milinkevich sent an invitation for the European March to chairman of the European Commission, chairman of the European Parliament and heads of the European states. ”We invite our friends to stay with us on this day of October 14 and we will be grateful for your solidarity and support. The majority of Belarusians look to Europe with hope and expects a normalization of our relations with the EU”, it is said in the invitation.

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Authorities have to start the dialogue with the opposition, Viktar Ivashkevich, organizer of the European March appointed for 14 October, considers. The full-value dialogue with Europe is impossible without such step taken by the official Minsk.

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Head of the Liberal Democratic Party Syargei Gaidukevich declared that he didn’t exclude the future elections to be held on the proportional-majority basis. ”it is possible under coordination of certain external and internal factors”, the “deputy” specified.

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Minsk Municipal Court sentenced ex-candidate for the presidential post Aliaksandar Kazulin to 5,5 years of imprisonment in a Vitsiebsk colony on 19 September 2006. One year has passed since then. Kazulin’s friends and family have attempted to impeach the verdict but never succeeded. The Belarusian justice believes that Kazulin is guilty of hooliganism and organization of street riots which is proved with a range of evidences, hence the case was closed.

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Neither Gazprom nor Beltransgaz shed light on the current situation with the payment for the Russian gas supplied this August. Nevertheless, the deadline is approaching. Belarus must clear the gas payment before September 23.

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Certain statements made by EU Commissioner for External relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner “do not further a better environment of our cooperation and contradict the efforts taken to develop the dialogue between Belarus and the European Union,” Belarus’ MFA press-secretary Andrei Papou said September 18 in Brussels at a meeting with Belarusian journalists.

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Aliaksandar Lukashenka said private business should be engaged in building of sporting facilities in the country. “There are many rich people in the country, and we must ask them to take part in construction of modern sport facilities,” Aliaksandar Lukashenka said during a visit to the Misnk water sport complex based on the municipal center of Olympics reserve of water sports.

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“We consider that first steps for improving relations must be taken by Belarus”, declared senior advisor Secretary-General of the Council of the EU Pirkko Tapiola to Belarusian journalists at the press conference 20 September.” Our policy is aimed at establishing closer relationship between the European Union and Belarus “, he said. The European policymaker also stressed that for” the future of Europe Belarus is a very important country”.

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