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ReutersMINSK (Reuters) - Belarus will cease all dialogue with Western countries if they fail to recognize the ex-Soviet state's parliamentary election, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Saturday.
Lukashenko has staked his hopes on the September 28 vote as a way to improve ties with the United States and European Union, which see it as a test of Belarus's democratic credentials.
No poll in Belarus since the mid-1990s has been judged free and fair in the West. Most opposition hopefuls have been allowed on the ballot this time and hundreds of Western observers are attending.
But opposition officials say they have been denied access to commissions overseeing the count and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the campaign has failed to give voters a clear idea of issues or candidates.
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