Belarus dis-invited? (09/19/99)

Belarus dis-invited?

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

YALTA - A decision by the Kuchma administration not to invite Belarusian President Alyaksander Lukashenka to the Black Sea-Baltic Summit in Yalta has angered the Belarusian government.

On September 9 a Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said that Ukraine had withdrawn the invitation it had originally extended to Mr. Lukashenka and criticized the act as an "unfriendly gesture," according to Interfax-Ukraine.

"The revoking of the invitation by Ukraine is, from a Belarusian viewpoint, a clearly inconsistent step," said the official, who was not identified.

Leaders and representatives of 22 countries attended the September 10-11 conference in Yalta at the Livadia Palace, which called for an end to the political divisions in Europe that still exist 54 years after the continent was divided by the Allied powers.

Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk said in Yalta that invitations were extended to the nations that belong either to the Organization of Black Sea Cooperation or the Council of Baltic Countries. Also asked to attend were the three countries of the Visegrad Treaty.

Mr. Tarasyuk explained that Belarus belongs to none of the organizations, and for that reason was not invited.

However, Belarus had been invited to take part in the international academic conference that was held at the Yalta Hotel in conjunction with the summit. The Ukrainian foreign affairs minister said that the United States, France and Italy, none of which are member-states of the organizations invited, had joined the 22 countries at the conference, but Belarus had not.

The Ukrainian government sent mixed signals, however, as to whether an invitation was originally sent to Belarus only to be withdrawn later. While Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Andrii Veselovsky said on September 10 that no invitation had been extended, a presidential spokesperson explained that the original invitation had been withdrawn for diplomatic reasons.

"Lukashenka was extended an invitation but we had to withdraw it because of the worsening relations between Belarus and the European Union," said Oleksander Horyn.

Meanwhile a person close to the Ukrainian government explained the decision was made after pressure from the European Union, according to Agence France Presse.

"Ukraine does not want to offend Belarus, but it must first protect its own interests," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Belarus has become increasingly ostracized in Europe because of the actions of President Lukashenka, who has used strong-arm tactics to maintain power and quell dissent. He unilaterally dismissed the Belarusian Parliament in 1997 and rewrote the Constitution, which extended his ruling authority and gave him expanded powers. He has arrested dissidents and even forced diplomats to give up their embassies in a 1998 decision that caused a major international uproar.

Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said the action by the Ukrainian government brings into question the sincerity of the expressed intention of the conference.

"In this context, Ukraine's decision contradicts the aim of the elimination of dividing lines in Europe, including across the Baltic-Black Sea space," said the Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

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