Latvia wants to invite Lukashenka to Eastern Partnership summit

The Belarusian dictator can visit the summit scheduled for May 21-22 in Riga.

Latvia would like the highest-level officials to represent Belarus at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on May 21-22.

It was said today by State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia Andrejs Pildegovics at a press conference in Minsk, Radio Svaboda reports.

He said that Latvia knew well that Belarus had never been represented by Aliaksnadr Lukashenka at the previous summits. According to the Latvian diplomat, the level of the delegation will depend on the situation in Belarus.

“We have several months to see what will change in Belarus,” he said. “The final decision on Belarus’s representation at the Riga summit will be taken by the Belarusian party. If Minsk demonstrates progress, we will invite Belarus to all events.”

Asked by journalists if a possible participation of Aliaksandr Lukashenka in the summit was connected to the problem of political prisoners, the State Secretary of the Latvian MFA answered that such thing as political prisoners should not exist in present-day Europe.

The summit in Riga will be the fourth EP summit. Aliaksnadr Lukashenka did not attend the previous forums in Prague, Warsaw and Vilnius.

Latvia holds the rotating presidency of the the Council of the European Union for the first six months of 2015.