The Authorities of Belarus Do Not Want to Fulfill the 12 Conditions of EU

Officials of European Union and Belarus keep making diplomatic curtsey around the fulfillment of the 12 conditions, that EU has put to Minsk. However, some Belarusian experts are sure that Belarusian authorities do not want to fulfill these conditions and simply delay the decision on this issue.

«EU Has No Aim to Organize a “Colour Revolution”»

The position of Brussels was once again stated by the director of Policy Unit of General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union Helga Schmid during the 10th Minsk Forum.

She said that a new strategy of development of relations of EU and Belarus is not a set of conditions and not an ultimatum, but it is a definition of necessary basis for partnership.

«Europe is ready to support Belarus on its way of important reforms and modernization for the increase of well-being of Belarusian citizens», said Helga Schmid. She also made it clear that Brussels understands that the 12 conditions cannot be met by the Belarusian side in a short time, but if major of them are met EU will immediately make steps towards Belarus.

«EU has no aim to organize a “colour revolution” or to change the government. It is for Belarusian citizens to decide who will be the head of their state, and they have the right to be sure that the elections of 2008 will be transparent and fair», said Helga Schmid.

Belarusian Answer: a Dialogue Without Conditions

The answer to the suggestions of EU was made by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenka himself. He said to Spanish El Pais newspaper that «Europe does not want to normalize its relations with Belarus» and it lays down «unacceptable conditions».

«Europe has gone too far some time ago, and today it has to come out of this situation with honor. If European Union is determined enough to do so, we will be seating at the same table and will have a dialogue, if we want to be closer. We want this and say it is so everywhere. But European Union does not want it, and it lays down unacceptable conditions to us. Why to mark our dialogue with conditions? There is no need to do so», — said Belarusian president.

«Let it drop» or «demagogy»

The 12 conditions are not the first conditions suggested by the European structures to Belarus. In particular, in 1999 OSCE laid down conditions for organizing the dialogue of civic and political institutions.

«But the Belarusian regime has never fulfilled any of those conditions, — Andrei Yahorau, an expert of Agency for Humanitarian Technologies, told Eurobelarus.info. — And there is no real dialogue or actions taken, there is just an exchange of diplomatic curtsey. The Europeans watch attentively the signs, the Belarusian regime makes, and they make counter-statements, but the real partnership with EU is possible only in return for very concrete, but not demonstrative steps».

«The first attempt to react to these 12 conditions was absolutely traditional, and that is to let it drop, — says Uladzimir Matskevich, an expert of Agency for Humanitarian Technologies. — But it was obvious from the very beginning that this time such a way will not work. The second version was to simulate the fulfillment of the conditions of European Union. I think that the regime still regards this variant as possible. For example, it is possible to try to make ordinary amnesty pass for meeting the requirements regarding political prisoners. But they can leave the real political prisoners in jails under different excuses».

Uladzimir Matskevich says the reaction of Belarusian high officials towards EU is nothing but demagogy.

«This is always done with the only aim, and that is to delay the decision. This is what the regime does. That is all. There is nothing more behind this. The only question left is how long it will last. And European Union plays the main role here. If officials from Brussels won’t pay much attention to the situation, Belarusian demagogues can delay the situation forever», — says Uladzimir Matskevich.

How will the situation unfold?

The experts believe that official Minsk will not change anything in its actions, as meeting the conditions laid down by EU «is equal to the end of the existing of this political regime», Andrei Yahorau admits.

According to the expert, «the rhetoric of “conditions” in general is unacceptable for Belarusian authorities, and they will not fulfill anybody’s conditions — the other thing is that there is a need to change something in the country».

According to Uladzimir Matskevich, there are several possible scenarios of the development of the situation.

«The first scenario has already been mentioned, and that is postponing of the situation together with demagogy from one side and inert criticism of this demagogy from the second side. The second scenario presupposes resolute actions taken by EU, but the question is whether EU itself has any kind of sensible plan of such resolute actions. This is doubtful. Anyway, we can’t see any marks of the existence of such a plan. The third scenario presupposes the development of such a plan inside Belarus itself and using the possibilities of European Union as resources for the realization of this plan. The weak point of this scenario is the fact that Belarusian think tanks are not ready to work out such a plan and communicate with the structures of EU to convince them to fulfill this plan together. Personally, I think the third scenario is the most correct, realistic and prospective, even though its realization demands great efforts on behalf of Belarusian think tanks», — Uladzimir Matskevich admits.

The 12 conditions of EU under which Belarus can receive international assistance

1. Respect the right of the people of Belarus to elect their leaders democratically – their right to hear all views and see all election candidates; the right of opposition candidates and supporters to campaign without harassment, prosecution or imprisonment; independent observation of the elections, including by Belarusian non-governmental organisations; their freedom to express their will and have their vote fairly counted;

2. Respect the right of the people of Belarus to independent information, and to express themselves freely e.g. by allowing journalists to work without harassment or prosecution, not shutting down newspapers or preventing their distribution;

3. Respect the rights of non-governmental organisations as a vital part of a healthy democracy – by no longer hindering their legal existence, harassing and prosecuting members of NGOs, and allowing them to receive international assistance;

4. Release all political prisoners – members of democratic opposition parties, members of NGOs and ordinary citizens arrested at peaceful demonstrations or meetings;

5. Properly and independently investigate or review the cases of disappeared persons;

6. Ensure the right of the people of Belarus to an independent and impartial judicial system – with judges who are not subject to political pressure, and without arbitrary and unfounded criminal prosecution or politically-motivated judgements such as locking-up citizens who peacefully express their views;

7. End arbitrary arrest and detention, and ill-treatment;

8. Respect the rights and freedoms of those Belarusian citizens who belong to national minorities;

9. Respect the rights of the people of Belarus as workers – their right to join a trade union and the right of trade unions to work to defend the people’s rights;

10. Respect the rights of the people of Belarus as entrepreneurs to operate without excessive intervention by the authorities;

11. Join the other nations of Europe in abolishing the death penalty;

12. Make use of the support which the OSCE, the EU and other organisations offer to Belarus to help it respect the rights of its people.

Andrei Aliaksandrau
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