Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation will support the opposition in the coming presidential elections in Belarus, Chairman Hans-Gert Poettering told a group of young Belarusian opposition politicians in Berlin on June 7.
Dr. Poettering, a former president of the European Parliament, said that the foundation contributed to Belarus' democratization through its support of the country's opposition forces. He expressed certainty that "human dignity, democracy and freedom will prevail thanks to support of pro-democratic forces in Belarus," according to the foundation's press office.
Dr. Poettering emphasized the importance of efforts to secure the return of European Humanities University from Vilnius to Minsk.
The group, which includes members of the Belarusian Popular Front, the United Civic Party, the Movement for Freedom and the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, arrived in Germany at the invitation of the foundation on June 6 and will leave on June 11. The politicians are scheduled to have meetings with officials of the German foreign ministry and the German Chancellery, as well as with representatives of the Christian Democratic Union, the Junge Union, the Association of Christian Democratic Students and the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.
With an annual budget of around ?100 million, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation offers political education, conducts scientific fact-finding research for political projects, grants scholarships to gifted individuals and researches the history of Christian Democracy. The Foundation is associated with Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union.
