Europe will watch Belarus

Belarus' relations with European countries will depend on how freely and fairly the presidential elections on March 19 are held. The head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation for Belarus, Uta Zapf, announced this yesterday at a press conference in Minsk. She said that the democratic nature of the campaign would be assessed by 400 short-term and 14 long-term observers from the OSCE. “It seems to me that the Belarusian authorities are interested in holding fair elections,” Ms. Zapf noted, adding that “the situation in Belarus has worsened again.”

Recently adopted PACE resolutions and a statement by the EU Council on General Affairs and External Relations speak of the possible expansion of sanctions against Belarusian officials if the elections do not meet international standards. However, this issue is still the subject of debate. “I would not advocate the introduction of any harsh measures,” said Uta Zapf.

The other day Minsk announced its intention to normalize relations with the European Union. “Our relationship with the EU is not easy. The Belarusian side recently took the initiative to start a new stage of dialogue with the EU on the entire range of our relations,” said Andrei Popov, press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. Representatives of the leadership of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU have been invited to Belarus. The date of their proposed visit has not yet been specified.

“It would be nice to think that we will see steps by Belarus to normalize relations,” British Ambassador to Minsk Brian Bennett told Vremya Novostei. According to him, Europeans would like to be convinced of the sincerity of Minsk’s intentions. To do this, according to the ambassador, the Belarusian authorities “must ensure an open electoral process for all candidates,” including free access of all contenders for the post of head of state to the press, radio and television. “Then we can talk about elegant elections,” says Mr. Bennett.

Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk