Belarus: Foreign Relations
(asked on 12th October 2015) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of their current relationship with the government of Belarus.
This question was answered on 19th October 2015
The UK Government has full diplomatic relations with the Government of Belarus, and continue to work to improve them. We welcomed the release of six political prisoners on 22 August, although we continue to have concerns about the human rights situation. We have noted the preliminary statement of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the conduct of the presidential elections on 11 October, and await its final report. We hope that the Government of Belarus can take forward its dialogue with ODIHR on how to improve the conduct of future elections. We work closely with EU partners on these issues, and engage with the Belarusian authorities to press for political and economic reforms.
The UK Government has full diplomatic relations with the Government of Belarus, and continue to work to improve them. We welcomed the release of six political prisoners on 22 August, although we continue to have concerns about the human rights situation. We have noted the preliminary statement of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the conduct of the presidential elections on 11 October, and await its final report. We hope that the Government of Belarus can take forward its dialogue with ODIHR on how to improve the conduct of future elections. We work closely with EU partners on these issues, and engage with the Belarusian authorities to press for political and economic reforms.