Belarus-EU: A Dialogue without Opposition?
Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief, confirmed during his visit to Belarus that the European Union wished to build a closer contact with the Belarusian authorities. Solana said he was satisfied with the visit. The visit of the high-ranking EU official received a reserved coverage even on Euronews. No word about Solana’s meeting with pro-democracy figures was mentioned in the report. Perhaps, the reason was Alexander Lukashenka who said that he would not tolerate any mediators in the EU-Belarus dialogue. In the view of political commentator Yury Chavusau, this statement cannot come true.
“Lukashenka who has completely lost touch with reality does not understand whom he is talking to in this case. There can be no such monopoly of only one political position in a democratic country. Moreover, there can be no such monopoly in the European Union with dozens of countries that have different attitudes to the Belarusian topicality. There are countries like the Netherlands or the Czech Republic which take quite a tough position as regards the violation of human rights in Belarus”, says Chavusau.
Political analyst Yury Shevtsov reckons that the Belarus-EU cooperation has at last risen to a certain level, as previous contacts between the Belarusian opposition and EU official resemble a kindergarten.
“I think this resembles a kindergarten. I like the viewpoint of Alexander Rahr, a German researcher, who says that Solana should definitely have contacts with Lukashenka at the official level, while our opposition should deal with the people of the same magnitude in Europe: party leaders with party leaders; if someone becomes a legislator or something else – with the same level of people in the West”, says Yury Shevtsov.
In his view, the previous contacts between the opposition and EU representatives brought no result. Now, Belarus and EU will begin getting closer.
Shevtsov: “A very important thing has happened for the first time, when EU officials start meeting with the decision-makers in Belarus. All those meetings with the opposition are mainly ritual; they have nothing to do with serious politics.
I think Belarus is likely to be accepted at the European Partnership. But a further political dialogue will be paused. After the next six months, we will have the start of the presidential campaign, and the European Union will hardly be ready to switch to a new stage of the political dialogue before the election campaign has been finished here. On the other hand, the European Union is also in the transition period when the ratification of the Lisbon treat is being finalized to be immediately turned into the elections to the European Parliament”.
Yury Chavusau takes a slightly different approach. In his view, the last week was unprecedented in the foreign political history of Belarus. Our country was visited by the representatives of the Council of Europe and European Parliament, EU foreign policy chief Solana and Latvian prime minister Godmanis. In the view of the commentator, rapprochement of our country with the European Union can only be slowed down but not halted.
“New stringent political repressions can slow down the dialogue process but hardly stop it, because this is a geopolitical question. Europeans wish to include Belarus in the geopolitical orbit of the European Union, also through the Eastern Partnership program which is mostly likely to include Belarus. I reckon the processes could be complex, but the general direction to include Belarus into the European orbit will remain”, says Yury Chavusau.
Photo — ByMedia
“Lukashenka who has completely lost touch with reality does not understand whom he is talking to in this case. There can be no such monopoly of only one political position in a democratic country. Moreover, there can be no such monopoly in the European Union with dozens of countries that have different attitudes to the Belarusian topicality. There are countries like the Netherlands or the Czech Republic which take quite a tough position as regards the violation of human rights in Belarus”, says Chavusau.
Political analyst Yury Shevtsov reckons that the Belarus-EU cooperation has at last risen to a certain level, as previous contacts between the Belarusian opposition and EU official resemble a kindergarten.
“I think this resembles a kindergarten. I like the viewpoint of Alexander Rahr, a German researcher, who says that Solana should definitely have contacts with Lukashenka at the official level, while our opposition should deal with the people of the same magnitude in Europe: party leaders with party leaders; if someone becomes a legislator or something else – with the same level of people in the West”, says Yury Shevtsov.
In his view, the previous contacts between the opposition and EU representatives brought no result. Now, Belarus and EU will begin getting closer.
Shevtsov: “A very important thing has happened for the first time, when EU officials start meeting with the decision-makers in Belarus. All those meetings with the opposition are mainly ritual; they have nothing to do with serious politics.
I think Belarus is likely to be accepted at the European Partnership. But a further political dialogue will be paused. After the next six months, we will have the start of the presidential campaign, and the European Union will hardly be ready to switch to a new stage of the political dialogue before the election campaign has been finished here. On the other hand, the European Union is also in the transition period when the ratification of the Lisbon treat is being finalized to be immediately turned into the elections to the European Parliament”.
Yury Chavusau takes a slightly different approach. In his view, the last week was unprecedented in the foreign political history of Belarus. Our country was visited by the representatives of the Council of Europe and European Parliament, EU foreign policy chief Solana and Latvian prime minister Godmanis. In the view of the commentator, rapprochement of our country with the European Union can only be slowed down but not halted.
“New stringent political repressions can slow down the dialogue process but hardly stop it, because this is a geopolitical question. Europeans wish to include Belarus in the geopolitical orbit of the European Union, also through the Eastern Partnership program which is mostly likely to include Belarus. I reckon the processes could be complex, but the general direction to include Belarus into the European orbit will remain”, says Yury Chavusau.
Photo — ByMedia
