Estonian Foreign Minister To Ask Belarusian Authorities About "Patriots' Case"

Sven Mikser will ask "inconvenient questions" in Minsk.

The Estonian Foreign Minister is informed of the White Legion case and is going to raise the issue of human rights in Belarus during his visit to Belarus. This is stated in the response of the press service of the Estonian Foreign Ministry to Radio Svaboda’s request.

On the eve of the working visit of Foreign Minister Sven Mikser to Belarus, civil activists from Latvia, Estonia and Belarus addressed him with an open letter, asking him to influence the Belarusian authorities in the matter of repressions against activists of the Belarusian civil society.

"You will have a conversation with Minister Uladzimir Makei, who has always been the most pro-European member of the Belarusian government. Please raise the issue of the "White Legion" in this conversation. We believe that Uladzimir Makei will be able to convey to Aliaksandr Lukashenka that, in regards to the European perspective, it is better for him personally and for Belarus to avoid fabricating this case and enable its participants to have an honest and open trial. It is important that this trial is recognized as honest and open by international human rights organizations," – the open letter to Minister Mikser says.

The Foreign Ministry has informed Svaboda that Sven Mixer's working visit, which was scheduled for May 23, is postponed due to "changes in the schedule in Belarus", however, the minister has been informed about the letter.

"The minister will certainly put these issues on the agenda, if it comes to the visit, since the issue of human rights in Belarus in general, including the detention of people, has been under the close scrutiny of the EU for several years," – the response of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia says.