On April 18, Glubokoye / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Belarus must be respected just as it respects the sovereign interests of other states, said Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, in response to questions from employees of the open joint-stock company "Glubokoye Dairy and Canned Goods Plant", BELTA correspondent reports. Sanctions against Belarus are caused by its independent domestic and foreign policy. The European Union demands that Belarus fulfill three main requirements: the release of so-called political prisoners, changes to electoral legislation, which allegedly does not comply with international standards, and the abolition of the death penalty. However, the legislation as a whole lacks articles concerning political crimes, and those individuals who are imprisoned and whom the EU calls political prisoners have committed criminal offenses. They called for the overthrow of the constitutional system, participated in an attempt to wreck the Government House, stated Vladimir Andreichenko, who was a direct eyewitness to the events of December 19, 2010. As for electoral legislation, it underwent a radical change in 2010 – by 90% in accordance with the recommendations of the OSCE ODIHR. All political parties and citizens were given the opportunity to nominate their candidates. Organizing pickets is not prohibited, and meetings with voters are held on a notification basis. "Thus, the issue is not political prisoners or electoral legislation. The issue is that they do not like the government, the parliament, the President. They do not like that the republic is integrating with Russia, the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space have been created, and the Eurasian Union is being formed. They do not like that Belarus lives by its own laws. We are a sovereign state, we have our own Constitution, our own laws, we have the right to conduct an independent domestic and foreign policy based on the will of the people," said Vladimir Andreichenko. Belarus must be reckoned with, negotiated with, not presented with ultimatums, the Speaker of Parliament emphasized. -0-

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