22 September 2006
New Swedish government to support Belarusian opposition more actively

Sweden's new government is expected to support opposition groups in Belarus more actively, Christopher Fjellner, a member of the European Parliament and of the country's Moderate Party, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

The Alliance for Sweden, a center-right coalition headed by Moderate Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt, narrowly won Sunday's elections in Sweden, ending 12 years of Social Democrat rule. Mr. Reinfeldt is poised to become Sweden's next prime minister.

Mr. Fjellner said that the new government definitely would not have any political contacts with Aleksandr Lukashenko's "regime."

He said that the policy would not affect ordinary people, noting that Sweden would try to make it possible for the Belarusians to learn as much as possible about the European Union, also by easing visa formalities.

He said that Sweden had actively helped democratization in the Baltic States and would do so in Belarus.

Mr. Fjellner expressed hope that Sweden's embassy would open in Minsk some day. Sweden is currently represented in the country by an office of the Swedish embassy in Russia.