Moscow/Minsk - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko threatened Saturday to place relations with the West on ice if it declares next week's parliamentary elections undemocratic.

If there is no recognition of the elections "we will stop talking to them," the president told the news agency Interfax.

Lukashenko, criticized by human rights groups in his homeland as "Europe's last dictator," said Belarus had strictly adhered to the guidelines laid down by the West in preparing the elections.

The Hague  - Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov should not be allowed a visa to visit the European Union headquarters in Brussels next Monday, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen told the Dutch parliament Wednesday.

Should the Netherlands persist in its position, Martynov will be blocked from visiting Brussels on Monday.

The move follows a proposed invitation to visit EU headquarters in Brussels by EU commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, an advocate of easing visa restrictions for all Belarusians.

Belarus, regarded internationally as a dictatorship, recently released a number of political prisoners.

Minsk  - Belarusian MPs on Tuesday said they supported Russia's move to accept the i

Minsk/Moscow - A bomb injured up to 50 people in Belarus' capital Minsk a little after midnight (2100 GMT) on Friday during a concert celebrating Independence Day, officials said.

Minsk - New laws under consideration by the Belarusian parliament will substantially tighten government control over the Internet and other news sources, media rights officials said Wednesay.

Mosco