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The opening up of the European Union and visa facilitation would be the greatest support and stimulus to the civil society in Belarus, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis said at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council on 12 April in Luxembourg.

As the human rights situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate, the Foreign Affairs Council discussed a possibility to respond with additional targeted measures against this country.

Head of the Lithuanian diplomacy believes that the EU has so far not yet exhausted a possibility of making a significant positive impact on Belarus - the negotiations on visa facilitation. Minister A.Ažubalis called on the EU foreign ministers to open such negotiations as soon as possible.

He noted that Lithuania spoke up for responding with rational targeted measures against the repressive regime in Belarus.

“Possible measures should not impair the situation of ordinary Belarusian people,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

The Minister also drew the EU foreign ministers’ attention to the worrying situation in Kyrgyzstan, as one year anniversary of the tragic events that took place in June 2010 approaches. During these events, an ethnic conflict claimed hundreds of lives.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs suggested to Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, initiating joint EU actions to help strengthen stability in the region.

In March, Minister A.Ažubalis visited Kyrgyzstan as the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Foreign Affairs Council also discussed the situation in Libya and other countries in the EU‘s neighbourhood, the developments in Côte d’Ivoire and the Middle East peace process.