By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK, March 25 (Reuters) - Belarus police clashed with opposition protestors in Minsk on Sunday after about 10,000 people took to the streets for the biggest opposition rally this year against President Alexander Lukashenko.

There were no reports of injuries in the clashes, which came as the opposition marked the anniversary of the short-lived 1918 Belarus republic crushed by Bolshevik troops.

"We are not alone. The authorities are afraid of us," opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich told a crowd chanting 'Long Live Belarus' and waving the red and white flags of the 1918 republic, banned by the government which uses the Soviet-era national flag.

Lukashenko, branded by the United States as Europe's last dictator, has begun to make overtures to the European Union after relations with former ally Russia collapsed this year in a bitter trade row over oil and gas prices.

Popular, especially among rural and elderly voters, Lukashenko says the opposition is led by outcasts who have failed in government and live of foreign donations.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Sunday said the EU was ready to form "a full partnership" with Belarus and boost financial aid to the ex-Soviet republic if it adopts democratic reforms.

"The European Union is ready to enter into a full partnership with Belarus on the basis of these values," he said, referring to democracy, respects for human rights and rule of law.

The opposition has said the government's reaction to Sunday's rally would be an indication of how serious Lukashenko is in his calls to improve strained ties with the West.

Riot police cordoned off the main street in Minsk and groups of policemen checked identity documents. Buses of riot police stood by on nearby streets. Witnesses said police had detained activists before the protest.

Witnesses said that police briefly clashed with dozens of protesters who were trying to break police cordons and force their way to October Square, just meters from the presidential building.

Demonstrators had split into several large groups to avoid police cordons and were marching through the streets in central Minsk.

Last year riot police broke up street protests at Lukashenko's re-election, arresting hundreds of people.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the tightly-policed former Soviet-state since 1994, is accused by the European Union and United States of rigging elections and quashing the opposition.

The opposition said about 30 activists had been arrested and sentenced for up to five days in jail ahead of the rally.

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