President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for Belarus today on a three-day official visit.
During the visit, President Rajapaksa is expected to hold bilateral discussions with President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Prime Minister, Prof. Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, Anatoly Rubinov and the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Belarus National Assembly, Vladmir Andreichenko.
Belarus, a former Soviet Republic, is considered Europe’s most authoritarian State, which has been facing sanctions from the European Union for the crushing of dissent and jailing opposition political activists, including a former presidential candidate, Andrei Sannikov.
EU has blacklisted and frozen assets of scores of confidants of and officials of President Alexander Lukashenko over their role in repression and crackdown of civil liberties.