EU, US Threaten to Freeze Ties with Belarus over Violence

Relatives and friends of arrested Belarussian opposition supporters wait outside the prison walls to bring food and clothes in Minsk, Belarus, 22 December 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The EU and US are ready to freeze rapprochement with Belarus if no swift improvement is made in the human rights sphere, according to a joint statement by the two heads of diplomacy, Catherine Ashton and Hilary Clinton.

Last Sunday, incumbent President Alexandr Lukashenko won a landslide victory of over 80% at the presidental elections in Belarus, which were declared by the OSCE as "neither free, nor fair."

Although a number of opposition candidates participated in the vote and were given access to publicity that is ample by Belarusian standards, none of them appeared to achieve significant success, as the best-ranking opposition candidate Alexander Milinkievic scored just 6%.

The results proved frustrating for thousands of Belarusians, who walked out in protest Sunday night amid a snow storm. The protests erupted into clashes, with many wounded and imprisoned, including opposition candidates themselves.

In their joint statement, the EU and US call for immediate release of all those imprisoned,  and "strongly condemn all violence, especially the disproportionate use of force against presidential candidates, political activists, representatives of civil society and journalists."

The statement further describes the elections as an "unfortunate step backwards" for Belarus.

The EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jointly state that any progress in relations with Belarus is conditional on palpable improvement in the state of human rights and democratic governance in the country.

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