Translated material
Interpol boycotts Lukashenko
The EU did not allow European police into Minsk
Most European countries, following instructions from Brussels, did not send their representatives to the Interpol regional conference, which opened yesterday in Minsk. Thus, the EU once again reminded Belarusians of its dissatisfaction with the way they elected the president in March. As a result, police officers from European CIS countries, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Norway and Iceland arrived in Minsk.Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble did not approve of the boycott. “We don't want this to be a political event. Interpol cannot interfere in political issues... The choice of venue for the meeting does not depend on what is happening in the country where we are holding the meeting,” he said. According to the Secretary General, “the fact that Interpol is holding a conference in a country does not mean that Interpol approves of the policies of that country.” The decision to hold the next regional Interpol conference in Belarus (part of the organization since 1990) was made a year ago.
Speaking at the conference, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Naumov said that the boycott by the EU countries “plays into the hands not of ordinary people, but of representatives of the criminal world,” and promised: “Regardless of what happened, we will act as required by the charter organization, since otherwise the interests of ordinary citizens will suffer.”
According to Mr. Noble, at the conference in Minsk, due to the absence of the majority of participants, it will not be possible to resolve a number of important issues, in particular those related to ensuring security at the FIFA World Cup starting in June in Germany. European police will have to get together again for this.
Commenting on the situation at the request of Vremya Novostei, the leader of the united Belarusian opposition, Alexander Milinkevich, emphasized: “Belarus does not comply with a number of international agreements, there are problems within the country. Until democratic changes occur, such situations, unfortunately, may be repeated.”
According to the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko convincingly won the presidential election on March 19, gaining 83% of the vote. But the EU did not recognize the vote as democratic, introducing visa restrictions on April 10 against 31 senior Belarusian officials, including the newly elected president. On May 16, President George W. Bush imposed restrictions on the entry of Belarusian government officials into the United States. But Washington, unlike Brussels, does not publish its blacklists.