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Belarus Headlines XLVIII

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Belarus Headlines XLVIII Office for a Democratic Belarus Belarus Headlines Issue XLVIII December 9, 2009 EU Policy: Sharing Knowledge with Belarus. Fourth Visit of Belarusian Experts to Brussels fice and Ad- Foundation for Legal Tech- ministrative nologies Development and Management supported by the Swedish team gave an International Development overview on Cooperation Agency cooperation (SIDA). Candidates for par- programmes ticipation in the programme and the func- are selected through an open Office for a Democratic tioning of Uni- call for applications. The Belarus versity and re- organisers welcome partici- form processes. pation of experts from both civil society groups and Inside this issue: Belarusian experts in Brussels Topics that government-affiliated struc- were covered as tures." On the invitation of the part of the Belarusian 1 Office for a Democratic programme experts on Belarus in Brussels, Bel- included education in gium and the Foundation Life-long Brussels for Legal Technologies Learning Development (Ukraine), a Pro- EU and Belarus 2-4 group of Belarusian ex- grammes, perts on Education and Intellectual Research visited Brussels Property, on November 23-27, 2009. Educational Politics and 4-5 The Belarusian delegation, issues and Society which included representa- policy to- tives from government wards Bela- institutions, research rus, EU Belarusian delegation in the city of Ghent 6-8 Finance and group, took part in a train- policy to- Economics ing course “EU Education wards Belarus and Re- 27/11/2009 and Research Policy: Shar- reforming and creating inter- Mysterious ing Knowledge with Bela- national contacts for universi- Source: ODB Belarus rus”. ties. Photos by ODB 9-11 The Black Lady Within the framework of This visit is of Niasvizh the course, the Belarusian part of a Castle. Romantic delegates had a chance to larger pro- Story of the Most get acquainted with the gramme for Famous Ghost of work of the EU Institutions Belarusian Belarus and meet with key experts experts, from the Council of the which is EU, and the European being imple- We on the Web Commission, working on mented by the region and education the Office www.democraticbelarus.eu policy. They also visited for a Democ- Ghent University, where ratic Belarus senior members of the In- in coopera- Belarusian delegates at the University of Ghent ternational Relations Of- tion with the PAGE 2 BELARUS HEADLINES ISSUE XLVIII EU and Belarus Council Conclusions on Belarus On November 17, the EU Council Due to the absence of tangible progress the possible adoption of these direc- adopted Conclusions on Belarus. The in the areas identified in the Council tives once relevant conditions are Council welcomed the increased high- Conclusions of 13 October 2008, it was met. level EU–Belarus political dialogue, decided to extend until October 2010 the the beginning of the Human Rights restrictive measures against certain offi- The European Union reaffirms its Dialogue, the intensified technical cials of Belarus but to extend the suspen- readiness to deepen its relations with cooperation and the participation of sion of the application of the travel re- Belarus in light of further develop- Belarus in the Eastern Partnership strictions for the same period. ments in Belarus towards democracy, initiative. human rights and the rule of law and At the same time, the Council of Min- The Council conclusions on Belarus also to assist the country in attaining these isters recalled its Conclusions of 13 include an invitation for the Commission objectives. Subject to progress in October 2008, and the areas of con- to prepare recommendations on negotia- Belarus in these areas, the Council cern identified therein, including the tion directives on visa facilitation and stands ready to take steps towards need for progress towards reforms of readmission agreements with Belarus, upgrading contractual relations with the Electoral Code to bring it into line taking into account the common ap- Belarus. with OSCE commitments and other proach on visa facilitation, the recent international standards for democratic evaluation of the 18/11/2009 elections, the freedom of expression existing visa facilitation agreements, as and of the media, and the freedom of well as the findings of a technical expert Source: consilium.europa.eu, ODB assembly and political association. mission to Belarus, and with a view to "The Eastern Partnership" Civil Society Forum in Brussels democracy and human rights. In addition, • The Belarusian delegation to the Fo- civil society organizations in the region rum held a roundtable discussion and a offered a number of project proposals press conference on the results of the aimed at improving energy security, expan- meeting on 19 November 2009 at the sion of economic ties with the EU, the in- Crown Plaza, Minsk. tensification of contacts between people and the deepening of cooperation in the The Forum initiates an open platform field of education. Separately, representa- for the participation of NGOs in the tives of civil society expressed the need, as "Eastern Partnership". As part of this quickly as possible to move to a visa-free initiative, thematic platforms will be "The Eastern Partnership" Civil Society regime with the countries of the European formed on the main directions of the Forum was held in Brussels on 16-17 Union. EaP, including democracy and good November 2009. The Belarusian delega- governance, economy, energy security tion, representing 27 public organizations • The position of the Civil Society Forum and the environment, as well as con- in Belarus, took an active part in this will be presented at an inter-ministerial tacts between people. The Forum par- event. summit of the Eastern Partnership in Stock- ticipants call on other social organiza- holm by Syarhei Matskevich (Belarus, tions, businesses, the public sector and • The Forum has developed and intro- Assembly of NGOs), formally elected by individual citizens to cooperate within duced the position of civil society of the the Forum as its representative at the meet- the framework of these platforms. EU’s eastern partners on the key areas to ing. Syarhei Matskevich and Uladzislau the European Commissioner for External Vyalichka (International Consortium It is worth noting that "The Eastern Relations and European Neighbourhood ‘EvroBelarus’) were also elected to the Partnership" Civil Society Forum was Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Carl organized by the European Commis- Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Board of the Civil Society Forum. The Belarusian delegation suggested that the sion with the aim of building confi- Sweden, currently holding the EU Presi- dence between civil society organiza- dency. The position of the Forum in- structure of the Forum and the format of its work should be one of a full subject of tions in partner countries. The Forum cludes the requirements of civilian over- was attended by delegations from "The Eastern Partnership". This proposal sight over the programmes that are being Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, implemented within the framework of the was endorsed by other delegates, as well Moldova and Ukraine. EaP, compliance of partner countries with as representatives of the European Com- the EU’s environmental standards, the mission. 17/11/2009 strict respect of European standards of Source: ODB PAGE 3 BELARUS HEADLINES ISSUE XLVIII EU and Belarus Silvio Berlusconi Pays Short Visit to Minsk Affairs, says that Italy has a long foreign advancing Italian business interests, policy tradition of being a pilot in explor- including his own. ing relations with problematic countries, and Berlusconi's trip may fall within that Belarus, which has no significant framework. natural resources, is important as a transit state for Russian pipelines "The visit of Mr. Berlusconi to Minsk is delivering energy to the EU. It also somehow the illustration of a quite tradi- has a sizable military industry which tional trend in Italian foreign policy," seeks Western technology to maintain Darnis said. "Italy is an ally of the U.S.A. competitiveness in the global arms through transatlantic relations and export market. NATO. And that is a strong pillar of [Rome's] foreign policy, and it is also a Berlusconi, a media mogul reputed to founding member of the European Un- own half of Italy's television and ion, and that is the other strong pillar." press, is closely tied to the country's state energy company ENI and the "But then, outside of those two pillars, quasi-state aerospace and weapons there is still a capability of action, of conglomerate Finmeccanica. moving, of Italy making contacts with countries that might be perceived as On November 30, the Belarusian problematic," he continued. "The exam- government and Finmeccanica Group Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlus- ple of Libya and the recent relations be- signed a memorandum. The two sides coni was the first EU leader to visit tween Italy and Libya are an illustration." agreed to cooperate in transport, en- Belarus in a decade and a half. ergy, space and security systems. The For years, such visits have been ta- Darnis explains that Italy's foreign policy document was signed following the boo. The European Union largely reflects the realities of the country's long negotiations between President of the regards Belarus as a pariah state for tradition of constantly exploring business Republic of Belarus Alyaksandr Lu- its regular crackdowns on opposition opportunities worldwide. That gives an kashenka and Italian Prime Minister and rigging of poll results to keep impetus for seemingly impromptu trips -- Silvio Berlusconi. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in even to states that at a given moment "Thank you and thanks to your peo- power. might be pariahs. ple who, I know, love you, as is dem- onstrated by the election results The official reason is that Berlusconi RFE/RL Belarus Service correspondent which everybody can see," Berlus- is paying a reciprocal visit to Minsk Jan Maksymiuk agrees that Berlusconi is coni told Lukashenka.
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