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Dialogue between Belarus and EU is impossible, member of European Parliament says

Belarus' parliamentary elections have shown that dialogue between Brussels and Minsk is still impossible, Elmar Brok, a German member of the European Parliament and a former chairman of the EP, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

Talks about some improvements of the electoral process are ungrounded if the opposition had no winning chances, he said.

"Elections can be either democratic or undemocratic," Mr. Brok said. "The Belarusian authorities have clearly shown that they are not ready for cooperation."

Until the EU sees Belarus respecting human rights and making steps toward democratization, the only thing that can be discussed with Minsk is these values, not the restoration of the relations, Mr. Brok said.

"There are generally established standards of the Council of Europe. Any dialogue is out of the question until Belarus abides by them," he stressed.