West calls upon Belarusian regime to fulfil political conditions
- 5.03.2009, 9:56
In response Belarusian officials say it is impossible.
Representatives of the European structures have called upon the Belarusian authorities to listen to recommendations on fulfilling political conditions, in particular, on including representatives of the civil society and opposition into the dialogue.
The appeal was voiced on March 4 in Brussels during the discussion “After 6 months: what success and problems will take place in relations of Belarus and EU”, organised by factions of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the European People's Party and European Democrats (EPP-ED), Pontis foundation and the non-governmental organisation “Bureau for democratic Belarus” (Brussels).
As informed by the BelaPAN, according to representatives of the EU, these steps are necessary to Minsk in particular to avoid new visa sanctions against Belarusian officials.
Hugues Mingarelli, deputy head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for External Relations, stated the readiness to develop a dialogue with Belarus. He told about possibilities of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of economy, mutually beneficial regional projects in the context of the crisis, programs for promoting Belarusian goods to European markets. The official stressed the importance of following the political conditions of the EU by Minsk.
At the same time, Belarusian Ambassador to Belgium Uladzimir Syanko stated that to set forth conditions in the dialogue of Minsk and Brussels is impossible. He also denied a possibility to include representatives’ of the opposition into this dialogue. Representatives of the European structures reminded the Belarusian diplomat that one of the platforms of the Eastern Partnership policy includes cooperation with the civil society of participating countries. If Belarus joins this policy, it wouldn’t avoid that.
Participants of the discussion from the Belarusian expert community called upon the EU representatives to extend the trial period for the official Minsk, suspending visa sanctions for another half a year. According to them, renewal of the sanctions would negatively influence the relations of Belarus and the EU.
The decision on sanctions is to be adopted on the basis of consensus. At the same time, the proposal to prolong suspension of sanctions hasn’t been supported by all countries yet.