Uladzimir Makei: Situation in relations between the EU and Belarus has reached a stalemate

Following his visit to Latvia and Lithuania last week, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei emphasized that the EU and Belarus should get down to discussing a long-term strategy of relations.

"Sanctions were imposed against Belarus in connection with the events that followed the presidential election, in connection with the arrest of several persons who had been involved in organizing disorders and attacks on government buildings,” Mr. Makei said, according to the Belarusian foreign ministry’s press office. “When we meet with some of my European colleagues and talk unofficially, many agree that the situation in some other Eastern Partnership countries is neither worse nor better than in Belarus, maybe even somewhat worse in some areas. Ukraine was held up as an example some time ago, but we now see that the same representatives of the European Parliament are saying after visiting Ukraine that it is not an example, and that Yanukovich is a dictator.”

Belarus and the European Union can cooperate in combating illegal migration, cross-border crime and trafficking in human beings and narcotic drugs, Mr. Makei said. Belarus has open borders with Russia, and tens of thousands of people from Central Asia and the Caucasian region enter the Belarusian territory every year to illegally get into the European Union later, he said. The development of a transit system for carrying goods via the Belarusian territory is another promising area of cooperation, BelaPAN cites his words.

He expressed confidence that fully fledged cooperation between Belarus and the European Union would be restored sooner or later. “We’ve recently felt progress in this regard, and I think that this progress will be irreversible,” he said. “There are certain improvements. They are connected above all with what seems to us as the fact that our partners are starting to realize that the situation in relations between the European Union and Belarus has reached a stalemate,” BELSAT quotes Makei’s words in the interview with Belarus One channel. “It is important to Europe to have Belarus as a sovereign, independent country that has territorial integrity and makes its contribution to ensuring European stability and security,’ he said. ‘Belarus should remain this island of stability and security from Europe’s point of view. Let’s set this goal and move toward it.”

Speaking about the meeting with his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkēvičs, in Riga on Thursday, Mr. Makei said that an agreement had been reached for the foreign ministries of the two countries to hold consultations any time soon to discuss measures to resolve differences between Belarus and the EU and also issues relating to European security and integration processes in the CIS region.

Mr. Makei said that Belarus had already put forward specific proposals by way of preparation for the Fourth Eastern Partnership Summit, which will be held in Riga in 2015. According to him, Minsk wants the format of the program to be reviewed: “They should not make the same demands to all countries involved in the Eastern Partnership. We want to have good relations with the EU, but the level of these relations should be different,” he said, urging the EU to have different approaches to different countries participating in the program.