Štefan Füle: “Statement of Grybauskaitė – is her personal opinion”

EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Štefan Füle, met with representatives of the Belarusian civil society.

To the meeting were invited: one of the leaders of the civil campaign “European Belarus”, the head of the initiative group on collecting signatures for the nomination of Andrei Sannikov as a presidential candidate Uladzimir Kobets, Head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Zhanna Litvina, Chairman of the “Belarusian Helsinki Committee”, Aleh Hulak, head of the “Novak” laboratory Andrei Vardomatsky, chairman of the Uladzimir Karyahin, a member of the Public Advisory Council under the Presidential Administration Yury Zahumennau, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, Alyaksandr Yarashuk and others.

Uladzimir Kobets told the press service of the “European Belarus”, the meeting lasted over two hours, and it covered all the relevant issues concerning the situation in Belarus on the eve of the presidential elections. Zhanna Litvina told about the situation in the media, and, in particular, about the fact that on Belarusian television virtually all subjects on the pre-election theme are filmed in humiliating colors for the opposition and the democratic candidates. Issues about the possibility of visa-free entry into the European Union for Belarusians were also raised as well as the prospects of the “Eastern Partnership”.

“There were issues raised about the low representation of the opposition in the election commissions, political prisoners, Mikalai Autukhovich and Andrei Bandarenka, the statement of Lidzia Yarmoshyna that presidential candidates will not be let to debate live. Štefan Füle is originally from Slovakia, and I reminded him that it were the live debates that became an impulse for democratic reforms in Czechoslovakia.

I also asked about the saying of the Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė in support of Lukashenka - whether it's her private opinion or expression of the EU’s position. Štefan Füle said that the EU’s position remains unchanged, and such a statement is a personal opinion of Grybauskaitė, which is difficult to comment on. In the end, Füle said that he will carry all the important issues to the Foreign Minister of Belarus Siarhei Martynau with whom he will meet later,” - Uladzimir Kobets told about the meeting.