US Charge d’Affaires Jonathan Moore said to the Charter’97 press center that there’s no formal decision on shutting the embassy in Minsk.

According to the diplomat, Washington is continuing to consider the situation about the American diplomats in Belarus.

The Associated Press reported 1 May the US Department of State had ordered Belarus to close its embassy in Washington and consulate in New York. According to the Associated Press, the Department of State may close its embassy in Minsk as early as Friday, 2 May.

But the same day Radio Svaboda, referring to the Associated Press, reported that the US had abruptly backed down on its decision to close American embassy in Minsk. Instead of it, Tom Casey, the Department of State’s official, said the Belarusian diplomats had been warned against possible steps.

“There certainly are a number of steps, and we have told them that we are considering the full range of options in terms of our respective diplomatic presences,” Casey said.

However, the Department of State’s official didn’t say what measures can be taken against the Belarusian authorities.

The Belarus-US relations have tightened after the US Treasury Department published on its site clarification of the sanctions, imposed against Belneftekhim company in November 2007. Belarusian ambassador to the US Mikhail Khvastou was recalled from Washington for consultations on 7 March. US ambassador Karen Stewart left Minsk on 12 March on the insistence of the Belarusian side. The US was recommended to reduce its embassy staff. On 27 March 17 US diplomats left Minsk.

On 31 March Belarus decided to reduce its embassy staff in Washington and suggested the US to do the same. On 23 April the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered that till 30 April the US embassy should give a list of 5 American diplomats who will remain to work in Belarus.

On 30 April US Charge d’Affaires Jonathan Moore was handed a list of American diplomats who are considered persona non grata in Belarus and should leave the county within 72 hours.

The US Department of State’s spokesman Sean McCormack said on a briefing, commenting on this decision by the official Minsk, the United States would reduce its embassy staff as the Belarusian side insisted, though they found this decision to be “unjustified and unwarranted.”

According to him, the US is not going to reject its principles: “We want to have a good relationship with Belarus and work to try to improve that. But we are not going to do that and sacrifice principles of pushing for freedom of expression, political freedoms and other freedoms in Belarus.” “We are considering our response to this action,” S. McCormack declared.

P.S.And from my personal observations, it seems that Belarusian consulate in New York already wraped up most of its operations and services provided to Belarusian citizens in the USA.

An interesting comments made by Andrei Sannikov,a member of the organising committee of the civil campaign “European Belarus”, appeared on the web(Charter97.org). And I think they are worth of your time as he goes over some important issues facing Belarus and its political direction.

“Alyaksandr Lukashenka is consciously set to break relations with the US, after which rupture of relations with Europe could follow, as he is preparing surrender of Belarus to Russia. And he needs scapegoats to blame for these things happening,” stated the international coordinator of the Charter’97, a member of the organising committee of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Andrei Sannikov, commenting on the intention of the Belarusian authorities to reduce staff of the Belarusian mission in Washington again.

The Second international Conference dedicated to the memory of the first Estonian president Lennart Meri took place in Tallinn under the auspices of Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves and was dedicated to problems of Europe. Prime-ministers of Estonia and Georgia, Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Director-General for External and Politico-Military Affairs at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union Robert Cooper, European Enlargement Commissar Olli Rehn, high-ranking diplomats from Europe and the US, members of the European Parliament and national parliaments of the EU countries, leading international analysts and journalists took part in the conference.

The international coordinator of the Charter’97, a former deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Andrei Sannikov and the head of “We Remember” foundation Iryna Krasouskaya have taken part in the conference as Belarus representatives.

- The conference was important, as it took place right on the eve of the NATO summit in Bucharest. By the way, many participants of the conference flew from Tallinn to Bucharest directly. Not only issues of the NATO enlargement, but of further enlargement of the European Union were discussed at the conference, as well as issues of European international security, relations with Russia and Europe’s relations with neighbouring countries, including Belarus, — Andrei Sannikov noted in an interview to the Chater’97 press-center.

What exactly has been said about Belarus at the conference?

- Naturally, events of March 25-27 had their consequences for the international community. The topic of Belarus, as a European neighbour where beating of people during peaceful protests continues, where political prisoners exist, worries both our neighbours and the EU in general. It was said at the conference that efforts of democratic states should be concentrated on protection of human rights in Belarus, on release of political prisoners and prevention of application of force by the regime. The US representatives called upon Europeans to take appropriate steps against Lukashenka’s regime.

What other questions were discussed at the conference?

- In general, the central intrigue of this conference, like the NATO summit, is Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia. This problem hasn’t been solved yet, and it won’t be solved during Bucharest summit at the level of the presidents. In any case, both Georgia and Ukraine are viewed by the EU and the US as future members of the EU and the NATO. Today differences on this issue between the US and Germany exist, however the number of supporters of including the two post-Soviet republics into the Euroatlantic space is steadily growing. In any case, disagreement between the US and Germany on the issue of the EU and NATO membership does not influence their policy towards Belarus. Full understanding of the situation and an appropriate view on how this situation should be solved exist here. As the conference was held in Estonia, it is natural that the position of the Baltic States and of the countries of Northern Europe on international issues has been discussed in detail. This group of the states is united in what concerns the further growth of both the EU and the NATO. They are adhering to the policy of open doors. By the way, representatives of these countries said that one day Belarus and Moldova would be eligible to qualify for membership in the European Union.

What is Your evaluation of the decision of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry about additional reduction of the Belarusian Embassy’s staff in Washington and the demand of the Belarusian side to cut the staff of the US Embassy in Minsk again?

- Most likely, some “smart guy” advises Lukashenka to get rid of the US presence in Belarus in order to supposedly facilitate the process of negotiations with Europe. I hope that it is not the Foreign Ministry’s initiative, as even in totalitarian states Foreign Ministries are interested in maintaining and development of relations with the democratic world. I do not think that the Foreign Ministry could recommend doing obvious foolishness, like rupture of relations with the US. Actions of the Belarusian authorities cannot be called anything but provoking the US for severance of relations. Such rupture would have an impact on ties of Belarus not only with Europe, but, strange as it may appear, with Russia and other economically attractive regions of the world. There is another, more dangerous explanation of the actions of the official Minsk. Lukashenka is consciously set to break relations with the US, after which rupture of relations with Europe could follow, as he is preparing surrender of Belarus to Russia. And he needs scapegoats to blame for these things happening.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive to Bucharest to the NATO summit. What could be expected from this visit?

- If this will happen, it will be the first visit of Putin to the NATO summit for the whole period of his rule. And here analysts are lost oneself in conjectures, will it be an address of Putin in Munich, where he outlined the policy of confrontation with the West, or on the contrary, he will use this visit for improving relations with the West, in order to give Medvedev a more favourable basis for development of these relations. The West is essentially ready for the hard line of Russia on all issues, including issues of energy security. Russia’s policy of the recent years has made the West to get ready for possible continuation of energy blackmailing rather seriously. As long as Europe is the main consumer of Russia’s energy resources, counter-measures that are taken today, would have adverse effect for Russia primarily. Today Russia is actively opposing Ukraine’s possible membership in the NATO, however Russian arguments are less taken into account by the West, as Russia’s reputation has been seriously undermined by its anti-democratic policy inside he country.

Not long ago we wrote about a documentary movie ‘Lessons of Belarusian Language”. Back then, it was unavailable to viewers; however, thanks to comments from our readers we are happy to write that this movie is available on line! below is a recap of a blog and the movie itself.

Radio Svaboda reports that First Polish TV channel in conjunction with Everest movie Production Company recently finished working on a documentary movie “Lessons of Belarusian Language. Youth against Lukashenka”. It was directed by Miroslav Dembinsky and it was already premiered in Riga and Vilnius. The movie tells about now closed Belarusian Humanitarian Lyceum and its students who actively participated in the “Denim Revolution” during the presidential elections that took place in Belarus last March.

Mr. Dembinsky says that while events that took place in March play a significant role in the movie another goal of filmmakers was to show Belarus in the dramatic moment from a perspective of youth. The director hopes that this movie will show how students were getting prepared for such decisive moment for their country, how they were attempting to spread the word and wake up Belarusian masses prior to the Presidential elections.

Mr. Dembinsky also said that at this moment the studio already made deals with TV companies of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Croatia to show the movie. It also plans to offer this movie to 74 largest TV channels in Europe and the United States of America. In the near future, Mr. Dembinsky is planning to make another movie about Belarusian Rock.

Couple years ago we publish two photo/video clips dedicated to Belarusian opposition movement. By no stretch of imagination we pretended to be big time movie directors, however, it was our take on the situation. However, judging by the comments, our modest video attempt was well received and many expressed interest to learn more about Belarus, its people,history and politics. There is a number of web resources with relevant information in all available formats. Some of them in Russian, some Belarusian or English. I myself, is in a never-ending pursuit of information sources and recently stumbled upon a movie that really reflects Belarusian realities, brings back memories and asks often uncomfortable questions. I will upload 10 segments in descending order and once we redesign our web site it would be included along with many other video materials relevant to Belarus. So whether you are someone who is interested in Eastern European affairs or just an ordinary internet passerby curious about political currents or I hope you will find this movie interesting and provoking. And as always, feel free to comment.

Some things never change and these videos fully demonstrate it. Every single protest or opposition rally in Minsk ends up with news about police brutality. And this year is no different…