Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with seven Belarussian dissidents today in Lithuania and assured them that Belarus is on the road to democracy, their biggest chance being the next presidential election.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Belarusian dissidents Thursday she thinks an end to authoritarian rule in their country is within reach. She drew a rebuke from Russia’s foreign minister for earlier comments about Belarus.

After meeting with the seven dissidents, Rice said next year’s presidential election in Belarus offers ééan excellent opportunity” to focus on the need for credible elections in the country, a pro-Russian former Soviet republic led since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko.

On Wednesday, Rice had said it was éétime for a change” in Belarus – a comment that prompted a reply Thursday from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Apparently interpreting her comment as a call for outside intervention, Lavrov said Russia ééwould not advocate what some people call regime change anywhere. You cannot impose democracy from the outside.”

Rice came here from Russia to attend informal meetings of NATO foreign ministers. Lavrov turned up for discussions of his country’s links with NATO.

She said persistent outside pressure for a free and fair election process can serve as a catalyst for change, a phenomenon that led to the ouster of undemocratic governments in Georgia in 2003 and Ukraine in 2004.

Lukashenko has not said whether he will seek re-election next year. Rice’s comments and her decision to meet with the dissidents were certain to rile the Belarusian leader, who lashed out Tuesday at what he described as the Western-backed revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine. He vowed that he would not be ousted.

Minsk, the Belarus capital, is just a short drive from Vilnius. When the dissidents tried to cross the border Wednesday night into Lithuania, they were harassed by Belarusian authorities, delaying their arrival here by more than two hours, a Bush administration official said.

Greeting the dissidents Thursday at a hotel, Rice said, ééWhile it may be difficult and long and at times even far away, there will be a road to democracy in Belarus. We admire your courage, and we admire your dedication and we want you all to know you are in our thoughts.”

After the meeting, the dissidents told reporters they hoped to organize mass anti-government protests this fall.

At the same time, Moscow and Minsk issues a joint statement while crying about it in each others’ arms.

MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Union has urged the U.S. Congress and European Union states to stop putting pressure on Belarus and to develop cooperation with the nation’s leadership.

The assembly ended its session in Moscow on Thursday by passing a statement “in connection with the anti-Belarussian campaign waged by leading Western states and international organizations under their control.”

The deputies called on the West to “give up the language of threats and pressure and develop constructive cooperation with the government and National Assembly in order to assist in bolstering democratic principles in Belarus.”

Commenting on the European parliament’s resolutions on Belarus, the assembly’s press service said they were tendentious, discriminatory and contained threats to use sanctions against Belarus.

Rice’s statement, in itself, is very important. They were not made at a random time, but at the end of a NATO summit. At the same time, we are seeing both the UN (narrowly) and the EU passing resolutions condemning Lukashenko and promising aid for the development of democracy there. So not only do you have all of them, as well as Bush and Yushchenko announcing their intentions earlier, but you also have Georgia’s parliament drafting an address to the Belarussion people. Then their president, crusader that he is, may be announcing Belarus as the next revolution spot tomorrow.

There’s a reason this is happening all at once, and it’s because the free world is working together to make it all go forward. But who would have thought, just a few months ago, that Lukashenko would be ÄprobablyÅ crying himself to sleep at night?