Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

EU praises Belarus' release of political prisoners; ex-presidential candidate greeted as hero

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • aa783558-
    Image 1 of 2

    A former opposition presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich, left, meets with supporters at a bus station as he was released from a prison, Minsk, Belarus, late Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015. The authoritarian president of Belarus on Saturday pardoned all six political prisoners in the former Soviet republic, including Statkevich, a former opposition presidential candidate. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

  • 39f30789-
    Image 2 of 2

    A former opposition presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich, center, meets with supporters at a bus station as he was released from a prison, Minsk, Belarus, late Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015. The authoritarian president of Belarus on Saturday pardoned all six political prisoners in the former Soviet republic, including Statkevich, a former opposition presidential candidate. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

MINSK, Belarus – The European Union says the release of political prisoners in Belarus represents "important progress" in efforts to improve relations.

The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, unexpectedly pardoned all six political prisoners on Saturday evening, including former opposition presidential candidate Nikolai Statkevich.

Statkevich was greeted at the Minsk train station late Saturday by hundreds of opposition activists who chanted "Hero."

He connected his release with the Belarusian government's need for credits to help it survive the economic downturn.

The EU and United States had set the freeing of political prisoners as a condition for easing economic sanctions and travel bans imposed on Belarusian officials.

The releases "represent important progress in the efforts toward the improvement of relations between the EU and Belarus," EU officials said in a statement late Saturday.