European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said in Minsk on November 15 that some aspects of the Belarusian presidential election campaign are limited in progress. Nevertheless, according to the EU representative, the political situation still have some questions to be improved.
As noted by Stefan Fule, the EU would like to see a clear and measurable progress with regard to free and fair elections in Belarus. In this case, according to European Commissioner, this progress is determined by promotion of six key aspects: the registration of candidates, composition of election commissions, the issue of early voting, counting and tabulation of election results, access to media and freedom of assembly, Telegraf reports.
«I have noted progress in some of these areas, but lack of it in some others. Thus, the registration of candidates seems to me a well-established system; collecting of signatures is also quite encouraging. Access to the media, when compared with the previous elections, has improved as well,» Stefan Fule said and added that «it’s not an easy question for the country with a state monopoly on the media.»
«Nevertheless, I have not seen any progress in regard of electoral commissions’ composition. The fact that 1% of opposition is represented there, does not meet our expectations. Early voting remains an open question, too,» the Commissioner added.
According to Stefan Fule, progress in the identified aspects will allow the EU to restore and strengthen relations with Belarus. «I’m looking forward to discuss the details of these issues with Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov. Hopefully we can find concrete solutions to the improvement of the Belarusian situation on these key aspects,» the Commissioner said.
EU to Discuss Visa Regime Simplification with Belarus in November
Stefan Fule also said that the European Commission took over the negotiations on two important aspects last Friday: visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Belarus.
Relevant groups will begin work on visa facilitation and readmission agreements in November and December, respectively.
«I hope that in early 2011 we will have the opportunity to start negotiations with the Belarusian authorities on issues, aiming to benefit the citizens of Belarus,» the commissioner said.
