Belarus to US: keep out of our affairs
RIGA, Sunday (Reuters) U.S. President George W. Bush said free
elections should be held in Belarus but the Russian-backed country
swiftly accused the United States and its Baltic neighbours of
interfering in its internal affairs.
Bush, who calls Belarus Europe's last remaining dictatorship, said in
Latvia there would no secret deal with Moscow to let President Alexander
Lukashenko stay in power. Lukashenko is due to attend ceremonies in
Moscow on Monday marking 60 years since the end of World War Two in
Europe alongside Bush and other leaders.
"The only deal that I think is a necessary deal for.people is the
deal of freedom," Bush told a joint news conference with the leaders of
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the Latvian capital.
"They should be allowed to express themselves in free and open and
fair elections in Belarus," he added, keeping up U.S. pressure on
Belarus to have fair presidential elections in 2006.
There are fears in Belarus' neighbouring Baltic countries that
Lukashenko will cut a deal to remain in power. Russia and the United
States have clashed over Belarus with Moscow rebuffing calls by
Washington for change.
Bush's comments drew an angry response from the foreign ministry in
Minsk, which said any U.S. attempt to "thrust a wedge between the
fraternal peoples of Belarus and Russia will fail" and that Belarus
would determine its own path of democratic development."The Baltic
states are embarking on a dangerous path of interference in Belarus's
internal affairs. This is unacceptable and can create regional
tensions," it said in a statement.
"Attempts by certain countries to implant democratic values in
Belarus 'through the back door' are at variance with the building of
civilised and pragmatic relations," it added.
Lukashenko, accused of crushing dissent and rigging elections, says
he will tolerate no upheavals like those which unseated governments in
Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.
He is eligible to run for a third term as president in 2006 after
securing a constitutional change in a referendum last year dismissed as
rigged in the West. |