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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Volume 12 Number 57
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Eastern Europe
BELARUSIANS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF STATEHOODAround 3,000 people took part in a March 25 rally in Minsk marking the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of Belarusian People's Republic, which pro-democratic Belarusians regard as a key event in the formation of Belarusian statehood in the 20th century, Belapan reported. The Minsk city authorities permitted demonstrators to march from the National Academy of Sciences to Bangalore Square on the outskirts of the city, but the organizers rejected that route, calling on the public to gather at Yakub Kolas Square in the downtown. The square was sealed off by riot police, who forced people to move toward the Academy of Sciences. Several hundred people attempted to march in the opposite direction, but the police blocked the way. Those who managed to push their way through the police cordons were dispersed from the main avenue to quieter streets, where some were beaten and detained. The rally took place in front of the Academy of Sciences, where Belarusian Popular Front leaders Lyavon Barshcheuski and Vintsuk Vyachorka delivered speeches. Vyachorka accused the Russian government of using its energy resources as a tool to incorporate Belarus. The gathering decided to disperse rather than to march to the square on the outskirts of the city. According to Ales Byalyatski, head of the Vyasna Human Rights Center, around 100 people were detained during the demonstration. AM BELARUS SUGGESTS U.S. LIFT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Papou said on March 25 that if the United States really wants "a different relationship" with Belarus, it should lift its sanctions, Belapan reported. Papou was responding to a U.S. State Department statement that the United States wants "a different relationship with Belarus, but that can only happen when the government of Belarus shows commitment to respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms." Papou said that the State Department "misleads the international and American public, attempting to put the blame for the current situation in Belarusian-American relations on the Belarusian side." "Such attempts may be viewed as a manifestation of the moral and political weakness of the U.S. stance toward Belarus," Papou said. He said that it is Washington that should take the blame for the deterioration of the bilateral relationship and that the United States is seeking to "cause the Belarusian people and state as much damage as possible for the sake of subjecting our country to American interests." Minsk on March 7 recalled its ambassador to the United States, Mikhail Khvastou, for consultations as a response to the economic sanctions imposed in November 2007 by the U.S. Treasury Department against Belarus's largest petrochemical company, Belnaftakhim (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 17, 18, 19, and 25, 2008). Minsk also insisted U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart temporarily leave Belarus for the same reason, which she did on March 12. Belarusian television has also accused the U.S. Embassy of organizing a spy ring. The Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) detained U.S. lawyer Emanuel Zeltser in Minsk on March 12, but has yet to give any explanation for his arrest and continued detention. AM BELARUSIAN KGB CONFIRMS REPORT ABOUT U.S. SPY RING The Belarusian KGB has confirmed a report aired on March 23 by Belarusian television that a U.S. spy ring was smashed in Belarus, Belapan reported on March 25. "Everything that was broadcast by First National Channel is true," KGB spokesman Valery Nadtachayeu told Belapan. The same day, KGB chief Yury Zhadobin said that no one was arrested in connection with the spy ring. "We are doing prevention work now. We are probing to what extent this or that article of law, this or that provision was violated," he said. "The fact that they are trying to dictate their rules to us on our own territory...is unacceptable," he added. According to the report, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Minsk organized a ring involving some 10 Belarusian citizens who passed to the United States information "for the use to the detriment of Belarus." The information was passed to "an FBI officer who worked at the U.S. Embassy," the report said. It also said that almost all members of the group were arrested on March 13 at a "secret address half a kilometer from the U.S. diplomatic mission." The report named U.S. Embassy officers Bernard Nixon and Curt Finley as being involved in the spy ring. Jonathan Moore, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, denied the report. "We have no spies operating in Belarus," Moore said. Moore also said that Nixon and Finley are part of the embassy's security service and had contacts with the Belarusian police as part of their duties. Moore added that Nixon left Belarus in July 2007 and Finley is expected to leave the country this week. AM UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO PREPARE LONG-TERM CONTRACTS WITH GAZPROM President Viktor Yushchenko said on March 25 that he has ordered the government to hold talks with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom by March 31 on the conclusion of long-term contracts regarding gas supplies to Ukraine and gas transit across Ukrainian territory, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. Yushchenko also said that Ukraine owes $2 billion to Gazprom for gas that has been delivered since January 1, and that the government has failed to clarify how it intends to repay this debt. Ukrainian gas operator Naftohaz Ukrayiny and Gazprom earlier this month signed an agreement on direct gas supplies starting from March 1. According to the agreement, Gazprom will supply Naftohaz by December 31 with at least 49.8 billion cubic meters of gas at $179.50 per 1,000 cubic meters. AM RESCUERS RECOVER BODIES OF TWO UKRAINIAN SEAMEN Rescuers searching for 18 missing Ukrainian seamen who were on board a tugboat that sank near Hong Kong found late on March 25 the bodies of two of them, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. The Ukrainian tugboat "Natohaz-97" sank on March 22 after colliding with a Chinese ship (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 25, 2008). The rescuers have not been able to get inside the tugboat, which is in water 35 meters deep, and are awaiting the arrival of a crane that will be able to lift the ship to the surface. AM
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