Experts: Lukashenka has nothing to do in Brussels yet

Aliaksandr Lukashenka has refused to take part in the Eastern Partnership summit on 24 November in Brussels. Despite Belarus "accepted with gratitude the invitation to the head of state", Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei will lead the delegation at the summit, according to the statement on Tuesday by MFA spokesman Andrei Shpuliak.

Euroradio has asked several foreign policy experts to comment on the situation.

In the view of Dzianis Melyantsou, senior analyst at Belarusian Insitute for Strategic Studies, Alikasandr Lukashenka's refusal basically means that the current level of relations between Belarus and EU is not high enough.

Melyantsou: “I would even go further by saying that we have a poor level of cooperation so that the president could go to Brussels. It is important to remember that Belarus and EU do not have any effective legal framework for cooperation. Currently, Belarus is raising the issue of signing the renewed agreemtn on cooperation and partnership, but Brussel is not ready yet. The EU did not promise that there would be any progress in this direction at the summit that would lead to the signing of this agreement or the agreement on the facilitation of the visa regime. It means the summit will be "empty" for Belarus; it makes no sense for the president to go there."

Yauhen Preyherman, head of Minsk Dialogue's board of experts, adds the visit makes little use if there are no meaningful high-level bilateral meetings.

Preyherman: “If Lukashenka is not going, it means there is no critical mass of bilateral meetings. There are no topics that could underline progress in relations. It would be not rational to go there in order to attend a multilateral and rather meaningless summit."

Hence, it does not matter who will head the Belarus delegation at the summit in Brussels.

Melyantsou: “There is a little frustration aftertaste in this siutuation with Lukashenka's refusal to attend the summit, but it is mainly on the side of the European Union. It took Brussels a lot of time to issue an invitation to Belarusian leader to attend the summit in Brussels. Finally, it decided to invite at the background of lifted sanctions against Belarus. I believe they did not feel very compfortable to invite Lukashenka but eventually they did. However, Lukashenka is not going. Hence, there is frustration."

According to the experts, the summit will focus on the "priorities of partnership" not concrete agreements. This makes it not compulsory for the head of state to attend.