Our journalists have made two attempts to interview Mikalai Snapkou who is participating in the event.
The Business Forum was attended by, among others, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius and Stefan Fule, the EU`s commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood policy. The forum was scheduled to include a series of discussions on ways to secure a more favorable business environment in the region.
Meeting him in the corridor Belsat’s reporters asked Mr Snapkou for any comment but he stayed mum. ‘We are having negotiations now. Let’s do it a bit later,’ one of his escorts said.
{movie}Economy Minister Snapkou is sheering away from being interviewed.|right|13509{/movie}
But ‘a bit later’, in a cafe, the representatives of the Belarusian delegation declined to comment again: the Minister and his companion just did not want to get into the shot and grant an interview to the independent TV channel.
The six ex-Soviet countries involved in the European Union`s Eastern Partnership program may get unrestricted access to the 28-nation bloc`s market of 500 million consumers if they carry out economic and political reforms, news agency BelaPAN quotes Wilhelm Molterer, vice president of the European Investment Bank, as saying. During his speech at at the Eastern Partnership Business Forum the top official reportedly warned that economic integration between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU should be accompanied by political cooperation. It is curious whether President Lukashenka and his minions, particularly Mr Snapkou, will yield to the recommendation.
