Makey: There will be no rehabilitation under the EU's order
The ambassadors' return will be possible when the EU understands need for dialogue on abolishment of sanctions. Makey tells Minsk's position on Brussels.
The head of the President's Administration gave an interview in which he made an unexpectedly sharp statement regarding the European Union. Euroradio picked Makey's brightest quotes, published by the news agency BELTA:
"The European Union asks us to let their ambassadors get back to Belarus. They don't just ask, they demand, and threaten us with new sanctions".
"They (the ambassadors - Euroradio) should return only when there are correspondent conditions for that. Namely, when the EU understands that the policy of blackmailing, dictate, and sanctions against the Republic of Belarus is a mistake and realizes the necessity for a dialogue with Belarus".
"There will be no rehabilitation under the order of the EU either. Everyone should understand this perfectly. Even those recently released former prisoners wrote in their appeals black on white that they admit their guilt and repent".
"Return of the ambassadors to Belarus is possible when, I'll say it again, the EU understands the necessity of the dialogue about abolishment of sanctions with Belarus".
Political analyst Yury Shautsou commented on Makey's statements on air to Euroradio:
Let us remind you, consultations on the issue of return of the EU member states ambassadors to Belarus took place in Brussels in the morning on April 17. Head of the Department for Eastern Europe, North Caucasus and Middle Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Marian Jakubocy has informed to Euroradio's correspondent that he wants the ambassadors to return:
Marian Jakubocy: "At first we had a position of the sooner the better. We withdrew our ambassadors in order to demonstrate our solidarity with the ambassadors of Poland and the EU. We wanted to demonstrate unity of the European policy. We had a discussion then, on the topic of how the ambassadors will make it to return, whether there will be any obstacles set by the Belarusian authorities. Now we are in a situation when there will be a discussion on whether they should return before the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, which is April 23, or after. We think that they need to return after April 23, within several days, probably a week. However, no later than within two weeks after this date. There is another issue - how to organize their return, whether they should get back all together, or not together, or just return and that's it".
