• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Belarus President Postpones Address To Nation

April 17, 2012

by RFE/RL's Belarus Service

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has rejected a draft of the annual address to the nation and postponed the date of the address.

No new date was announced for the address, originally scheduled for April 19.

The presidential press service said on April 17 that Lukashenka asked that the text be changed to reflect "the unacceptability of an excessively liberal approach to privatization" of state property.

The press service said Lukashenka also spoke against "excessively tough reactions to problems arising in relations between Belarus and its partners."

Lukashenka's authoritarian rule has led to sanctions by Western governments.

In February, Minsk asked the EU ambassador and the Polish ambassador in Belarus to leave the country, prompting all 27 EU member states to recall their ambassadors.

With reporting on Belta and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/lukashenka_postpones_speech/24551095.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.