(LUXEMBOURG) - EU foreign ministers on Monday mulled a partial suspension of sanctions against Belarus, with the European Commission pressing for a positive move as Minsk makes a "historic choice" on democracy.

During a meeting with Belarussian Foreign Minister Serge Martynov, on the margins of the ministers' main meeting, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said democratic developments there must be encouraged.

"We should now not delay our response any longer as I think I fear that we otherwise forego a possibility to have political leverage," she warned.

"In order to encourage further democratic development in Belarus, I would be in favour of a suspension of the most important part of the travel ban, because we want to show that progress is being rewarded and we want to have this more pragmatic concrete approach."

Belarus "is faced with a historic choice. Either it takes the necessary steps towards democracy and independence, or it resigns itself to stagnation," the EU commissioner added.

Forty Belarussian figures, including hardline President Alexander Lukashenko, have been banned from entering the EU and had their assets frozen since the 2006 presidential election which was judged not to comply with international norms.

Much of the focus in Luxembourg, though few of the comments to journalists, was on whether the travel ban on Lukashenko himself should be lifted.

Most of the EU foreign ministers stressed the improvements made by the regime despite legislative elections in Belarus last month which Western observers slammed as non-democratic.

"I think that the European report on the elections expressed some pretty clear concerns," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"But equally it is also important that we continue to recognise the steps that have been made, limited in some ways but not insignificant in others."

On the plus side was the fact that the Belarus government has recently freed its remaining political prisoners and invited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the legislative elections.

Loyalists of the autocratic Lukashenko -- dubbed "the last dictator in Europe" by the US -- won every seat in September's parliamentary polls which were also widely condemned by the US government and Western observers.

Of all the 27 EU nations, Poland and Lithuania, neighbours of Belarus and particularly anti-Moscow, have been pushing the hardest to get the sanctions lifted.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has made a comparison with Cuba, noting that the EU has lifted its sanctions there despite the fact that Havana is still holding political prisoners.

The Lithuanian foreign ministry argues that the flawed elections do not change the fact that dialogue with Belarus is "indispensable."

General Affairs and External Relations Council

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