Translated material
Beaten wolves
Belarusians are trying to “untie the knots” with Russia and the European Union
Disagreements with Moscow are forcing Minsk to establish closer ties with Europe. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced his desire to “build constructive relations with the European Union” in Minsk yesterday, shortly after difficult and not very successful negotiations in Moscow, during which he again tried to persuade President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to supply oil and gas to Belarusians at preferential rates. prices. The Belarusian leadership believes that without solving this problem, the successful functioning of the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan is impossible. However, Moscow refuses to make concessions.Before the conversation with Dmitry Medvedev, the guest emphasized that contradictions regarding the work of the Customs Union “really exist,” but “today we are able to untie these knots.” “We can take our relations not only to the partnership level. I can't stand this name. We have allied relations,” noted the Belarusian leader. Then Alexander Lukashenko went to the Russian prime minister to tell him about the conversation with the president. “I said that I would go to Vladimir Vladimirovich, he is already a beaten wolf, and we will quickly discuss all the issues that exist,” the guest said at the beginning of the conversation. But neither side made statements following the negotiations. This means that an agreement could not be reached.
During the trip, Alexander Lukashenko visited the All-Russian Research Institute of Electromechanics, where he spoke about the importance of cooperation in the field of space technology: “Tractors have been and will be produced, but this is completely new.” However, the old and unresolved problem of the supply of Russian energy resources is pushing Minsk to develop a dialogue with the European Union.
The Belarusian authorities made the first statements in this regard in 2007, when the transition to market conditions for the supply of Russian energy resources began. The West has criticized Belarus for many years for the lack of democratic reforms and violations of human rights, but in the second half of 2008, political prisoners were released from Belarusian prisons. As a reciprocal gesture, the European Union suspended visa and financial sanctions against high-ranking Belarusian officials. In 2009, Minsk joined the European Eastern Partnership program, aimed at developing cooperation with six post-Soviet countries - Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Belarusian authorities hoped that dialogue with the European Union would help them demonstrate to Moscow that it is not Minsk’s only partner. At the same time, quite pragmatic goals were set: expanding trade with European countries, attracting Western investment, simplifying the visa regime for citizens of Belarus. However, there have been no tangible changes in any of these areas. According to Belarusian experts, no noticeable warming between Minsk and Brussels can be expected soon. “Today, there is no visible systematic approach to the development of dialogue between the European Union and Belarus. Cooperation with Minsk is carried out at the level of ministries of European countries in already developed areas,” former parliament member Olga Abramova told Vremya Novostei.
One of the obstacles was the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus, scheduled for early 2011. Belarusian independent political scientist Alexander Klaskovsky noted to VN that “the dialogue with the European Union has slowed down, since official Minsk on the eve of the presidential elections does not intend to demonstrate its readiness to carry out the democratic reforms that the European Union expects.” Brussels calls the liberalization of Belarusian electoral legislation one of the conditions for warming relations. Last year, Minsk made a number of changes to it, declaring that it was meeting the wishes of the West. Recently, European experts proposed continuing to reform legislation, but the Belarusian side stated that it does not intend to do this on the eve of the elections. According to the VN expert, the dialogue between Belarus and the EU may resume after the presidential campaign - “perhaps then circumstances will force Minsk to take steps towards Europe.”