Council of the European Union: “Question on invitation of Lukashenka to Prague is open”

The participants of the Eastern Partnership EU’s project will have a summit in Prague on May 7, but a question on whether the Belarusian dictator should be invited for the summit is still open.

A representative of the Council of the European Union told this RIA Novosti on Tuesday. The European Union said the ministers of justice and internal affaires of the EU 27 member states decided at a session in Luxemburg to launch a human rights dialogue between the EU and Belarus.

The EU leaders approved at a summit in Brussels in March participation of Belarus in the Eastern Partnership program, providing 600 million euros for the six states until 2013 to strengthen state institutions, border control, and small companies support.

The EU foreign ministers confirmed in March a decision on visa ban reprieve for Belarusian high ranking officials, including Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who were banned to entry Europe.

In October 2008, the EU Council of Ministers decided to suspend visa bans for Belarusian officials, imposed in 2006 in response to Belarus’s actions against the opposition. The sanctions affected Lukashenka and 41 Belarusian officials.

Sanctions against the officials, suspected by the international community of killings of opposition leaders and a journalist, namely former interior minister Uladzimir Navumau, former secretary of the Security Council Viktar Sheiman, commander of special task squad of the internal troops Dzmitry Paulichenka, and former interior minister Yury Sivakou still remain in force. Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the Central Election Commission, is also banned to entry the EU for rigging the election results in Belarus.