Opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich, who was recently released from prison (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 23, 2007), wants to set up a pro-European alliance of opposition activists that would be led by former opposition presidential candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich, Belapan reported on June 5. "All sociological surveys suggest that the population of Belarus does not have an allergy to the European Union," Statkevich told the agency. "As for young and middle-aged people, they raise two hands in support of European values. This is the army that we can gather. For them, the flag of the EU is very important and of greater value than ideas about unity with Russia," he added. Statkevich noted that the new alliance would unite people behind a pro-European platform, rather than behind a specific leader. At last month's opposition congress in Minsk, Milinkevich was voted out of his role as leader of the coalition of opposition forces. The congress decided to replace Milinkevich with four co-chairs of the Political Council of United Prodemocratic Forces (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 29, 2007). Milinkevich has not yet commented on Statkevich's proposal. JM // Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. RFE/RL


Publication date: 06 June 2007   

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