Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg visits Belarus

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg began a two-day working visit to Belarus on Thursday. One of the main points on the agenda is the EU’s Eastern Partnership scheme which has been championed by the Czech EU presidency, and which will be formally unveiled in Prague on May 7. The project is to help forge closer links with six former Soviet republics and provide a platform for discussing visa agreements and free trade deals. Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to be part of the project but the extent to which Belarus will participate is not yet certain due to criticism of the authoritarian regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The European Commission has recommended that a decision on Mr Lukashenko’s attendance of the event be postponed until the last minute.