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Berlin closes military attache`s office at German embassy in Minsk

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere has ordered the closure of the military attache`s office at the German embassy in Minsk, BelaPAN said.

Dr. Maiziere gave the order following a meeting at the German foreign ministry, reported the Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) news agency.

On December 2, all members of the office`s staff were recalled from Minsk. German authorities have decided that numerous violations of human rights in Belarus make military cooperation with Minsk impossible, the report said.

The closure of the office followed diplomatic steps by both countries, the report said.

In September 2012, the German federal government decided to reduce military cooperation with Belarus, citing the continuing persecution of government opponents. In response, the Belarusian government stopped military cooperation with Germany.

Established in 1993, the military attache`s office monitored the development and reform of the Belarusian army and its cooperation with the armed forces of other countries and international security organizations, including the CIS, NATO, the OSCE and the United Nations. The office also provided the Belarusian defense ministry with information on military issues relating to Germany.

German media outlets reported this past August that Germany had trained Belarusian police to break up street protests and supplied them with equipment.

According to the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, in November 2010, a month before a violent police crackdown on a post-election protest at the center of Minsk, Belarusian police officers were allowed to observe the dispersal of protesters blocking the way for the Castor nuclear waste train in Germany.

The German daily Bild reported that at least 100 sets of riot gear, including batons, helmets, shields and protective clothing, had been provided to Belarus between 2008 and 2011.

The German interior ministry replied that Germany had mainly cooperated with Belarus` border control agency, and that even that cooperation, authorized by Chancellor Angela Merkel, had been suspended following the breakup of the post-election protest in Minsk on December 19, 2010. However, according to German media, German police officers had held training seminars for Belarusian colleagues until October 2011 and continue to maintain unofficial contact with them.