Translated material
Election advance
The European Union beckons Minsk towards democracy
The European Union is ready to lift sanctions against officials from Minsk . This became known following the results of yesterday's meeting of the heads of EU foreign policy departments. This is the first serious step towards warming relations between Minsk and Brussels.The statement adopted yesterday notes that there are no longer “internationally recognized political prisoners” in Belarus, which was an important step by Minsk towards democracy and respect for human rights. This is followed by a reminder that Belarus is expected to hold democratic parliamentary elections on September 28. After this, the council will assess the situation in the country and “will be ready to begin reviewing restrictive measures against Belarusian leaders and take positive and concrete steps that could lead to a gradual resumption of interaction with Belarus.” In particular, a meeting of high-ranking EU representatives with the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry may be held. The EU declared its readiness to develop official, business and cultural exchanges with Belarus and to “significantly increase” the volume of assistance. Official Minsk has not yet commented on these statements.
Visa and financial restrictions on Belarusian officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, were introduced by Washington and Brussels in 2006. Belarusian officials were banned from entering the EU and the US and promised to freeze their financial assets in these countries. These sanctions were introduced after presidential elections, which the West considered undemocratic.
Relations between Minsk and Western countries cooled even more when, at the end of 2007, the United States imposed economic sanctions against the state concern Belneftekhim. At the beginning of this year, Washington clarified that the restrictions also apply to enterprises belonging to the concern, including the most important Belarusian exporters. This led to a diplomatic conflict between Minsk and Washington. At the initiative of Belarus, the parties recalled their ambassadors for consultations and reduced the staff of their embassies to a minimum.
The situation changed dramatically in August, when Minsk fulfilled the condition necessary to begin dialogue with the West by releasing the last political prisoners, including ex-presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin. Washington was the first to react to this step, partially lifting sanctions against Belarusian enterprises. The next step was the EU's promise to review restrictions against Belarusian officials ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Independent Belarusian political scientist Alexander Klaskovsky noted to Vremya Novostey: “Minsk released political prisoners not because the Belarusian leadership was fired up with democratic ideas, but for pragmatic reasons. Western investments are needed, Belarusian officials want to travel to Europe. “The West understands this very well and is ready to make concessions in order to interest Belarus in further reforms, including the democratization of the electoral process.”