Protests in Belarus

According to the witnesses, special security forces forcibly removed protestors from October Square in the centre of Minsk while the Interfax press agency reported that the city police chief Anatoly Kuleskov had said that arrests had been made.

The demonstration had been given permission to go ahead. However, it had not been permitted to deviate from a route approved by the authorities.

Hundreds of arrests were made at last year's protest march on what the opposition call Freedom Day, which is the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of the first Belarusian state.

Supporters of the Belarusian opposition took to the streets on Monday to protest against the re-election one year ago of the authoritarian President Aleksander Lukashenko.

Large numbers of police broke up the illegal demonstration in which only a few dozen people took part, according to Interfax.

Following a controversial change in the constitution, Lukashenko was re-elected for a third term in office with a massive majority on March 19, 2006.

Merkel draws appaluse for Belarus statements

Meanwhile in Berlin, guests attending Sunday's signing of the EU's Berlin Declaration reserved some of their loudest applause for a reference Chancellor Angela Merkel made to Belarus.

Speaking about growing up in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Merkel told EU leaders that this was "a defining moment for me: I realized that nothing ever has to stay the way it is."

"That is a source of immense hope for all those not ready to countenance the injustices of our world. It is a source of immense hope, too, by the way, for those in Europe who still endure oppression -- like the people of Belarus."

"Today they are celebrating their independence day. Our thoughts are also with them today and our message to them is: human rights are indivisible! Europe is with you!"