EU calls on Belarus to release political prisoners
MINSK. Oct 25 (Interfax) - If Belarus wants to step up cooperation with the European Union as part of the Eastern Partnership program, it will have to remove a number of hurdles, primarily the presence of political prisoners in the country, Polish and Swedish diplomats have said.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry's Director-General for Political Affairs Torbjorn Sohlstrom told reporters in Minsk on Friday that it was important for him to visit the capitals of all the Eastern Partnership member states ahead of the summit in Vilnius.
Meetings were held with officials of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the presidential administration, he said.
Cooperation with Belarus as part of the Eastern Partnership program faces quite a serious obstacle - the presence of political prisoners in the country, Sohlstrom said, adding that the Belarusian authorities were asked to sort out this problem.