2006年VOA标准英语-Belarus Opposition Leader: West Can Help D

By Marlene Smith
Vienna
03 April 2006

Alexander Milinkevich, who led protest demonstrations¹ in Belarus against electoral fraud, says the West could help democratic forces fighting for freedom in his country. Marlene Smith has more for VOA from Vienna, where the opposition² leader had talks with EU politicians.

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Austrian Chancellor³ Wolfgang Schuessel, (r) welcomes Alexander Milinkevich in Vienna, April 3, 2006   
  

Alexander Milinkevich only won six percent of the vote in last month's presidential election, but his fame has spread well beyond the borders of Belarus.

The politician visited Vienna and spoke⁴ to journalists at the invitation of the Austrian Christian⁵ Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Wolfgang Schüssel.

Milinkevich said without Russian support, the government of President Aleksandr Lukashenko would collapse⁶, but that the west could also play a role in helping⁷ democracy.

He says the regime in Minsk is strong because it allows no free information and has a monopoly on the media. Milinkevich says the press is government controlled and only a few radio broadcasts such as Radio Free Europe can be received from outside.

He says Belarus state television offers a diet of anti-U.S. propaganda and longwinded speeches by the president visiting tractor factories.

Milinkevich continued, many young people and students are now suffering because they took part in demonstrations against the government. He said he wants the European Union to help with facilitating visas and grants so that such students could continue their education outside Belarus.

On election night Milinkevich spoke to thousands of supporters in Minsk who defied special units of the state police to protest, what they called, the manipulation of the presidential election. He stayed in makeshift tents on the main city square with demonstrators before the police moved in and made hundreds of arrests.

Official results gave the incumbent⁸ President Lukashenko 83 percent of the vote with a turnout of more than 90 percent. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the vote was marred⁹ by serious violations¹⁰, intimidation¹¹, and electoral fraud.

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

9 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。