Lukashenko, Berlusconi discuss Belarus rapprochement with Europe

ROME. April 28. KAZINFORM Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday discussed issues of Belarus? rapprochement with Europe, diplomatic sources in the Italian capital said after a dinner in honour of the Belarusian leader given at the government?s Palazzo Chigi (Chigi Palace) in Rome that was prolonged for after midnight; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.
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Italian government sources stressed that the meeting of Silvio Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini with Alexander Lukashenko ?are not limited to the bilateral initiative, but are matching the European context.? Europe?s attitude to Belarus, the same sources noted, is changing after ?timid steps in this country towards observing human rights.? Last year?s parliamentary elections became, according to assessments of observers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a step forward on this path, the same as the ?release of some political prisoners.? At the working dinner the Italian leaders again spoke about the importance of the observance of ?democratic standards? for the gradual rapprochement between Belarus and Europe, according to diplomatic observers. At the talks the sides also touched upon such an important humanitarian issue as the adoption of Belarusian children by Italian families. In recent years, many already prepared dossiers of documents were unilaterally frozen by Minsk, the Italian Foreign Minister said. However, from the beginning of 2009, in the view of Frattini, encouraging signals appeared that were evolved at the Rome meeting and that could in the short run result in a positive decision on several dozen specific cases. It was stated that Italy has not decided yet on the level of its participation in the EU Eastern European partnership summit in Prague on May 7. However, Belarus has received a general invitation to the event and will decide on its own who will head its delegation at the summit, diplomats said; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS. See www.itar-tass.com for full version
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