2006年VOA标准英语-Belarus Officials Dismiss EU Sanctions

By Bill Gasperini
Moscow
10 April 2006

Alexander Lukashenko takes presidential oath placing his hand on the Belarusian Constitution during inauguration¹ ceremony at the Palace of the Republic in Minsk  
  
The Belarussian government has dismissed as "useless" the visa ban imposed by the European Union against top officials of the government, including long-time President Alexander Lukashenko. The EU action was in response to last month's presidential election, which most of the world says was not free and fair.

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The Belarussian Foreign Ministry² calls the new sanctions "deliberate, unsubstantiated and useless."

Spokesman Andrei Popov adds the 25-nation European Union should "give up steps that hinder normal development in relations" with Belarus.

He was responding to the resolution passed earlier in the day by the EU Council of foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

It prohibits Mr. Lukashenko and 30 other top officials from entering EU member territory. Six senior government members have already been subject to a ban, including top police and security officers.

The council is also considering possible seizure³ of economic assets held abroad by the Belarussian government.

Officials in Brussels had earlier announced that action would be taken against Mr. Lukashenko, often called "Europe's last dictator", in the wake of the controversial election on March 19.

By official count the president won an unprecedented⁴ third term in office with 83 percent of the vote, which European observers say was not free and fair.

On Saturday, Mr. Lukashenko was sworn in during a ceremony that included a Soviet-style military parade.

In a speech, he blasted the West as having failed to "mount a colored revolution" in Belarus, a reference to street protests in ex-Soviet states Georgia and Ukraine that swept unpopular leaders from power.

The ban marks the first time the European Union has prohibited a head of state from a neighboring nation from traveling to the union, although it issued bans against the leaders of Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

The resolution says the Belarussian officials have violated international electoral standards, and have also carried out a crackdown on civil society and the democratic opposition⁵.

The council says it may expand the list, which main opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich has urged them to do.

Milinkevich came in a distant second in the election by official count, and he recently completed a trip to various West European countries seeking support.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel pointed⁶ out that the move targets only the leadership and not the people of Belarus, with whom he says the European Union wants to maintain good relations.

After the election the United States also said it will impose sanctions on the Belorussian government.

Political leaders in neighboring Russia support Mr. Lukashenko, and have criticized Western nations for the sanctions.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。