Belarus Headlines

On 16 April, the first working seminar of the European Dialogue for Modernisation took place in Warsaw. It was inaugurated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radek Sikorski, and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle. In his opening remarks, the Commissioner stated that the EU would continue its tough approach towards the government of Belarus until all political prisoners are released and rehabilitated and steps are taken to improve the approach to democracy and human rights. In conjunction, the Commissioner emphasised the need for the people of Belarus to envisage a brighter future for their country, depicting the European Dialogue for Modernisation as an instrument to meet that end. The seminar on privatisation opened a series of events that will take place both in Belarus and in countries across the European Union. The objective of these events is to assist Belarusian stakeholders in gaining practical knowledge from EU Member States' experiences in transition processes, and helping Belarusian reform-oriented participants of this Dialogue to establish a vision of a modern and democratic Belarus.