December
31, 2007 Belarus President
Threatens to 'Kick Out'
US Ambassador
Minsk
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened US ambassador
Karen Stewart with expulsion from the country should Washington
introduce new sanctions against the republic.
Stewart said in mid-December that new economic sanctions in addition
to existing restrictions could be imposed against Belarusian
state-run companies.
"She (the ambassador) would be the first to be kicked out. She
attends opposition hangouts and says economic sanctions could be
introduced against Belarus, heating up the situation. Let the
American ambassador deal with her own problems, for otherwise she
may leave her post in Belarus ahead of time," Lukashenko told
journalists.
The controversial Belarusian leader, dubbed "Europe's last dictator"
by Washington, promised to act tough in the economic sphere. "We
will survive even without US dollars. We don't have many of them. If
Americans don't want us to work with their currency, we will stop
using it," he said.
In mid-November, the US introduced sanctions against Belarus's
national petrochemical company Belneftekhim and froze the assets of
its US subsidiary, which Belarus said breached a bilateral trade
deal as well as the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Belneftekhim had to switch to euros in its settlements from Dec
20.Lukashenko said the US sanctions were caused by Belarus starting
work in Venezuela.
In December, a joint Belarusian-Venezuelan oil production company
was opened there, with plans to produce about seven million tonnes
of oil annually, 40 percent for Belarus and 60 percent for
Venezuela.
"They don't like that we have started working in Venezuela. But we
go where we are accepted," he said.
The US and the European Union (EU) have accused Lukashenko of
clamping down on dissent, stifling the media and rigging elections.
Lukashenko, who was re-elected to a third term last year, and other
senior Belarusian officials have been blacklisted from entering the
US and the EU.
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