EP delegation to monitor Belarus election from Brussels

The delegation from the European Parliament that was planning to go to Belarus later this week to observe the Presidential election has decided to fulfil its mandate from outside Belarus.

At the beginning of this week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus decided to refuse entrance visas to all seven members of the delegation and informed them that any attempts to enter Belarus would be treated as provocation and stopped at the border.

Maltese MEP Joseph Muscat, who is the vice-president of the delegation, was one of the MEPs denied entry.

Yesterday he told The Times that the decision was made not to travel to Minsk and instead to follow the situation as closely as possible from Brussels while maintaining close contact with the opposition in Belarus, the OSCE election observation mission and the international media.

He said that reports coming in from Belarus already depict a very worrying situation.

Polish MEP Bogdan Klitch, who was going to lead the delegation, said the decision not to recognise the official delegation of the European Parliament was just another example of the ever growing self-isolation of Belarus.

He said the regime in Minsk was clearly desperate even before polling began and it was evident that these elections do not meet international standards.

The Belarusian government is considered by the West as "the last European dictatorship". On Sunday, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been President for the past 12 years, is expected to declare victory once again.

His government has been under fire for violations of human rights and lack of political freedoms.