Belarus' Foreign Minister
Syarhey Martynau has announced that Alyaksandr Lukashenka plans to attend an EU
summit scheduled to take place in Prague
on May 7. Martynau made the announcement while on a visit to Latvia. During the summit, the EU is
expected to launch a new program called the Eastern Partnership for six
ex-Soviet countries, including Belarus.
The attempt by Europe
to bring its "last dictator" in from the cold by inviting him to the
summit of 27 EU government leaders could backfire by aggravating EU divisions,
said Ian Traynor of The Guardian.
Many European leaders hoped that Lukashenka -
who has been in power for 15 years, has been blacklisted by Brussels on account of his authoritarian rule
and was until recently subject to a travel ban - would not take up the
invitation.
16:22 05.04.2024
0:46 22.04.2024
9:35 26.11.2023
