Word: belarus
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...points were awarded by the traditional public phone-in and 50% by a panel of music producers in each country. Advocates of the new jury system will be quick to say it helped Norway transcend borders - with a mix of fans and more objective industry experts voting, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia all awarded Norway the maximum 12 points, thereby snubbing one another. But since Eurovision has no plans to reveal which national juries voted for which countries, its actual effect is difficult to determine. In any event, it's likely the East would have voted for Rybak anyway...
...conceived to forge a new relationship between the European Union and six former Soviet republics, the May 7 summit launching the E.U.'s Eastern Partnerships accord wound up more like the first date from hell. Instead of feeling the welcoming embrace the program had promised, representatives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine instead got a European straight-arm designed to keep them at a safe distance. Indeed, given the manner in which the courtship has begun, some observers now wonder whether any of the parties involved can ever hope to make beautiful music together...
...There are more countries perched on the E.U.'s outer rim, eager to join, but the downturn means they are probably in for a long wait. A plan to draw poorer neighbors such as Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine closer to the E.U. will be launched on May 7. But this "Eastern Partnership" - which nudges them towards European norms of democracy, open markets and the rule of law - is also jeopardized by the crisis. "When E.U. member states themselves are entering dire straits, it will also be increasingly difficult to commit more E.U. funding for the neighbors," says Nicu Popescu from...
Proof of that may have come earlier this month when human-rights and opposition activist Yana Palyakova, was found hanged in her home in Salihorsk, in southern Belarus. Palyakova, 33, had committed suicide just days after being sentenced to two and a half years in detention and a $350 fine for slandering a police officer, whom she had accused of beating her while in police custody in November last year. The day before Palyakova's death, the state-run newspaper Sovietskaya Belorussiya, or Soviet Belarus, had published an article mocking her and her complaint. "The state drove her to suicide...
...pushing Belarus on the need to adopt political reforms. E.U. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has noted progress, with the release of political prisoners and registering of NGOs and newspapers. But she also said recently that while the E.U. was looking to "reach out" to Belarus, "for that to happen, we want to see more of the political reforms...