Belarus Updates: OSCE Supervision Office Shut Down; Poland and Germany Make a Move

Belarussian authorities have shut down the local office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which was monitoring the Presidential election.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said, without referring to the election, that there were "no objective reasons for retaining" the OSCE's mission.

The OSCE had said that many counts in the balloting had been "very bad". The European Union had warned Belarus that billions in economic aid rested on a positive report by the OSCE on the vote. 

Meanwhile, the heads of the Polish and German Parlaiment's Foreign Affairs Committees have issued a joint declaration that the presidential elections in Belarus showed a “complete lack of respect for European values and standards".

The declaration appeals to other foreign ministers in the European Union to hold a meeting of the European Council to decide on a response.

The head of the Polish Foreign Affairs Committee, Andrzej Halicki, said  a meeting is planned with the head of the International Affairs Committee in the Russian Duma, Konstantin Kosachev.

China This Week: Hu, Sarkozy Prep for G20; Stronger Ties with Europe; Beijing Tells US to Stay Out of Dispute with Japan

Hu, Sarkozy Prepare for G20:  Chinese President Hu Jintao and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy met in the French Riveria last Friday to discuss reforms to the international monetary system, trying to coordinate their stance before the Seoul G20 summit.

France, which takes over the chair of the G20 group of leading economies in mid-November, has placed reform at the top of its agenda during its one-year tenure.

Chinese President Calls for Stronger Ties with Europe: Hu said on Tuesday that China attaches great importance to its relations with Europe and wants to strengthen ties with the region.

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