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Suspension of travel sanctions does not mean recognition of Belarusian parliamentary vote, German MP says

The suspension of the European Union`s sanctions against top Belarusian officials does not mean the recognition of the country`s September parliamentary elections as democratic, said Marieluise Beck, a member of Germany`s Bundestag.

It was a step in response to the release of political dissidents in Belarus, she said.

Ms. Beck was speaking at a "roundtable" discussion organized by the Alliance ‘90/the Greens block in the German parliament on Thursday to discuss the post-election situation in Belarus.

The MP said that the Germany parliament will continue pushing for lower Schengen visa fees for Belarusian nationals. She said that the current €60 fee was discriminatory as the fee cost only €35 for nationals of Russia and Ukraine.

"It is not fair," she said. "We are interested in contacts with Belarusians and hope that the visa price will be cut in the near future and the number of mutual trips by our nationals will increase," she said.

Belarusian political analyst Ales Lahvinets emphasized the need to facilitate travel for Belarus.

The Belarusian delegation to the discussion included human rights defenders Aleh Hulak and Ales Byalyatski, as well Yaraslaw Ramanchuk of the United Civic Party and Ales Lahvinets of the Belarusian Popular Front.

Four more Belarusian opposition activists were to take part in the discussion, but the German embassy in Minsk denied Schengen visas to them.

A source at the embassy told BelaPAN that when visiting Germany previously, the four had lied in the visa applications about the purpose of their visit.

A representative of the German foreign ministry told a group of Belarusian reporters in Berlin that the European Union was set to begin talks with Minsk about the facilitation of two-way travel.