DUTCH ON EXCLUDING BELARUSIAN MINISTER FROM THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 001880 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2014 TAGS: KOLY PHUM PREL BO NL EUN SUBJECT: DUTCH ON EXCLUDING BELARUSIAN MINISTER FROM THE OLYMPICS REF: STATE 160967 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY ANDREW SCHOFER FOR REASONS 1.5 (B AND D) (C) PolMilOff delivered reftel points to MFA Belarus Desk Officer Daniel Melchers on July 26. Melchers acknowledged Dutch (and UK) support for barring Sivakov. The French and the Germans, however, continue to argue that visa bans are one of the few things the EU can do, and that the EU should therefore not use them too often. Greece was arguing that a ban would not be in the "Olympic Spirit" and that there should be "no politics" involved in the games. Melchers expected the Greeks to refuse to take action. He said "one thing is sure, we won't shake hands with him, and he won't be photographed with the Prince of Orange (the Dutch Crown Prince)." Melchers claimed the Dutch, as EU President, had their hands tied since visa bans needed to be agreed at 25. He said that the only thing the GONL could do at this point was make another approach to the French and Germans, as they might be worried about the status of the European Humanities University. Separately, Melchers said the Dutch were contemplating approaching the Belarusians as EU President to urge them to approve the presence of monitoring teams at the upcoming elections in a "timely" fashion so as to facilitate their presence. RUSSEL