EU WARNS MINSK RECOGNITION OF ABKHAZIA COULD AFFECT TIES

RIA Novosti
16:57 | 24/ 02/ 2009

BRUSSELS, February 24 (RIA Novosti) – Improving relations between
the European Union and Belarus will be suspended if Minsk recognizes
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent, an EU commissioner said
on Tuesday.

The Belarusian parliament will consider recognizing the two former
Georgian republics on April 2. Russia recognized the two states as
independent on August 26, 2008.

"As for the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, our position
remains unchanged – we will not recognize it. And if Belarus recognizes
it, that will kick our relations back to the previous position. So far
this has not taken place yet, but if it does, it will be a retreat, and
freeze our rapprochement," Benita-Ferrero Waldner, the EU Commissioner
for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, told reporters
from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

Asked if the EU would cancel its invitation to Belarus to join
its Eastern Partnership program, Waldner said it would be up to
the European Council to decide how relations between Brussels and
Minsk develop.

The program, which does not include potential membership in the EU but
provides for political and economic relations with the organization,
will be kicked off in Prague on May 7.

Under the program, Belarus and another five former Soviet republics,
including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, will be
granted 350 million euros ($448 million) in extra financial assistance
by 2013.

The EU announced on Monday the inclusion of Belarus in its Eastern
Partnership program. The announcement was made after a meeting of
foreign ministers from the 27-nation alliance in Brussels, and comes
less than a week after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana’s visit
to the former Soviet republic.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said with confidence his
country’s bilateral relations with the EU would be improved after
Solana’s visit.

"His [Javier Solana’s] visit to Minsk [last Thursday] boosted the
movement towards each other for Belarus and the EU and will improve
relations. I have no doubt about that," Lukashenko said.