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Lukashenka: Minsk expects Europe to lift sanctions

Belarus expects Europe to lift all the sanctions that the Europeans imposed, offending the nation, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said while meeting Tuesday with Anne-Marie Lizin, vice president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and special coordinator of the OSCE short-term observers for Belarus’ September 23-28 House of Representatives elections.

The Belarusian leader called on the OSCE observers not to jump to conclusions and not to assess the elections at the dictation of some state, said government news sources. Mr. Lukashenka reportedly stressed that the observers should seriously review the election campaign in Belarus.

He also noted that Belarus would not improve its relations with the West to the detriment of its relations with Russia. “If they demand that we improve relations with Europe to the detriment of the Russian vector, we won’t do this,” he was quoted as saying. “We have traditionally good relations with the Russians. I don’t think bad relations between Belarus and Russia would be advantageous to Europe.” //BelaPAN