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US Delegation Chastised By the DictatorRepresentatives of the US Congress visited Belarus as a part of their visit to the Baltic and Balkan states. A meeting between the congressmen and the Belarusian dictator didn’t bring a breakthrough in relations.The delegation consisted of Helsinki Commission Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Commission Ranking Minority Member Congressman Chris Smith, and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin. Alyaksandr Lukashenka accepted the delegation in the first half of the day. At the meeting with the congressmen the Belarusian dictator expressed confidence in normalizing relations with the United States and said he was ready to return to full restoration of mutual diplomatic presence if the sanctions on Belarus were lifted. “We are ready to return to a conversation on full restoration of mutual diplomatic presence if the sanctions on our country and their legal basis The Belarus Democracy Act are lifted on a legislative level,” Lukashenka said. “I hope the United States will sooner or later realize that a conversation based on sanctions and force has no prospects,” the Belarusian dictator said. According to him, the sanctions imposed by the US government damaged interests not so much of Belarusian manufacturers as their American partners. “We managed to re-orient our flows of commodities to other sales market in time, but many American businessmen, who had been flourishing due to imports and using Belarusian products in producing, were affected by the repressive bans,” the ruler said. Speaking about the public and political processes in the country, Lukashenka noted: “We are a young state, so there things that go wrong. But let’s be sincere, you always have some things that go wrong.” “We don’t have the experience that the states of “old democracies” have. The measures we take to improve public and political processes serve to further strengthen the sovereignty and an independent position of Belarus in the international arena,” Lukashenka noted. The US Congress delegation also met with representatives of the Belarusian civil society. A press conference was held following the results of the meeting. It should be reminded that a diplomatic conflict between Belarus and the United States began after the US had imposed economic sanctions on the Belarusian regime due to its refusal to release political prisoners and stop repression against the opposition. On March 7, after the official site of the US Treasury published explanations to the sanctions imposed against Belneftekhim concern, Belarusian Ambassador to the US Mikhail Khvastou was recalled from Washington. On March 12, US Ambassador Karen Stewart left Belarus on demand of the Belarusian authorities. The US embassy was recommended to cut its staff. 17 American diplomats left Belarus on March 27. On March 31, Belarus decided to further reduce its embassy staff in Washington and suggested the US do the same. The representatives of the US Congress paid a visit to Belarus as a part of their visit to Baltic and Balkan states. The objective of the trip was strengthening security, promoting human rights, and international cooperation. The delegation took part in a session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius. A note: The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the US Helsinki Commission) is an independent agency of the Federal Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental and military cooperation in 56 countries. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce. This article appeared in Belarusian Review, Vol. 21, No. 3 --------------------------------------------- Copyright 2009 Belarusian Review All rights reserved. belarusianreview@hotmailcom
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