MINSK - European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has said the European Union could resume dialogue with the Belarusian authorities on the condition that they release political prisoners, the non-registered Belarusian human rights center Vesna said on its Web site.
“The European commissioner has assured us that the EU views the release of political prisoners as a precondition for beginning a dialogue with Minsk,” Vesna deputy head Valentin Stefanovich said following a meeting with Fule in Brussels.
Stefanovich said Fule and he had a discussion on human rights in Belarus, primarily as concerns “the problem of political prisoners and persecution of members of independent media outlets.”
“Mr. Fule expressed support for all Belarusian human rights activists, the Vesna human rights center, which, he said, is continuing its work in such difficult conditions, and also personally to Ales Belyatsky and all political prisoners,” Stefanovich said.
