UK Ambassador to Belarus: The EU is considering ways to improve relations with Minsk

photo BelaPAN

Though Britain welcomes Belarus` decision to host talks on Ukrainian crisis, this will not seriously improve Minsk-EU relations that are to be improved "cautiously and gradually”.

Speaking hours before a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine in Minsk, the diplomat emphasized that Britain devoted priority attention to the investigation of the incident. "We are concerned about the possible tampering with and falsification of evidence in the two weeks that have passed since the crash," BelaPAN quotes him saying.

The ambassador disagreed with Belarusian political analysts` predictions that hosting the talks would help Minsk improve its relations with the EU.

"It`s good that Belarus provides a neutral venue for the talks, but we should move cautiously. The conditions for the improvement of relations remain the same," he said.

The EU welcomes the recent release of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski but more political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus, said Mr. Bucknell. "The state has too much control over civil society, there are the issues of the death penalty and freedom of speech. We hope that there will be an evolution, not a revolution but an evolution. There are areas where the state can work to improve the situation," he said.

He noted that Belarus and the EU had intensified their contacts recently and recalled Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius` recent visit to Minsk.

At the same time, Mr. Bucknell warned, a dramatic change in the EU`s policy toward Belarus amid Russia`s falling-out with Ukraine and the EU can further destabilize the situation. "If we act hastily trying to speed up the improvement of relations… this may not be liked by Russia. And we don’t want to destabilize the situation in Belarus and the region in this way," he said.

"The fact that there are Russian military bases in Belarus also forces us to work on the improvement of relations with Belarus cautiously, slowly and gradually," said the ambassador.

Belarus is a military ally of Russia and "when tensions build up, every country looks at its military alliances and agreements," according to Mr. Bucknell. "Looking at what is happening in Ukraine, we decided to support our NATO allies in the Baltic and Poland. In the same way Belarus, a close ally of Russia, devotes attention to its military agreements," he said.