Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Kosinets of Belarus

org , Catholic sources say they are unsure about the implications for their Church amid a lack of clarity over whether Vice-premier Aleksandr Kosinets was suggesting or requiring that all foreign religious leaders should leave Belarus within five or seven years.

Vice-premier Kosinets has categorically rejected calls led by a nation-wide petition campaign to change the Law.

However, Forum 18 has been unable to determine whether Kosinets was making a recommendation or issuing an order.

As a mass petition to amend the harsh 2002 Religion Law reaches 30,000 of a targeted 50,000 signatures, Vice-premier Aleksandr Kosinets has categorically rejected any changes to it.

9/27/07 Belarus (Forum 18 News Service) ? As a mass petition to amend the harsh 2002 Religion Law reaches 30,000 of a targeted 50,000 signatures, Vice-premier Aleksandr Kosinets has categorically rejected any changes to it.

Forum 18 said that Vice-Premier Kosinets has previously categorically rejected calls led by the petition campaign to change the Religion Law, which is the most repressive law of its kind in Europe.

On 5 January 2009 Mr Aleksandr Kosinets, Chairman of Vitebsk Province Executive Committee, was appointed member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the 4th convocation by a decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus A.

Kosinets was a member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the 3rd convocation.

Kosinets was awarded a Certificate of Merit of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Kosinets said Thursday that all foreign Catholic priests would be banned from the country, with the ban taking effect over the next few years.

Amid a lack of clarity over whether Vice-premier Aleksandr Kosinets was suggesting or requiring that all foreign religious leaders should leave Belarus within five or seven years, Catholic sources say they are unsure about the implications for their Church.

The Catholic who requested anonymity told Forum 18 that adding to the Church's questions was the fact that Kosinets has already made remarks which "intrude into the life of the Church.

However, two other religious leaders also present at the 19 September meeting were certain that Vice-premier Kosinets had not made any threat to ban or deport foreign Catholic priests over the next few years.

Vice-premier Kosinets had maintained in general that foreign religious personnel coming to work in Belarus ought to know the local language, mindset and circumstances, he said.

He added that Kosinets had not referred specifically to Catholic priests, "although of course he was mostly referring to the Catholic priests here.

Vice-premier Kosinets has categorically rejected calls led by a nation-wide petition campaign to change the Law (see F18News 27 September 2007.

Kosinets expressed doubts about the religious group status proposal, questioning who would lead such groups and whether they might know enough about religion to do so.

After stating that Kosinets was unavailable for comment on 26 September, his assistant directed Forum 18 to Gulyako, the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs.

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Kosinets said that all foreign Catholic priests would be banned from the country over the next few years.

Kosinets said Thursday that foreign priests cannot conduct religious activities in Belarus because they do not understand the mentality and traditions of the Belarusian people.