EU does not expect Belarus to fulfill the bloc’s 12 conditions all at once, official says

The European Union member states will now need to discuss specific moves in response to the release of political prisoners in Belarus, Helga Schmid, director of the Policy Unit in the EU Council’s General Secretariat, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

“The release of all political prisoners has indeed been a key EU pre-condition for deeper engagement with Belarus,” Ms. Schmid said. “The EU has also consistently stated that it wants to engage with Belarus, and build a similar relationship as it has with other partners in the region, notably Ukraine and Moldova. With the last releases, we are certainly closer on our way of trying to do that.”

Ms. Schmid noted the importance of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Belarus for the EU to be able to review the restrictive measures in place against certain Belarusian officials, and to progressively re-engage with Belarus. “An improvement over the conduct of previous elections in Belarus would give further impetus to developing our relations,” she said.

Ms. Schmid denied that there were “back-room deals or bargaining” in exchange for the release of political prisoners. She stressed that the EU is a community of values, and that “there have been and continue to be certain pre-conditions based on these values for us to work together in a meaningful way.”

The European Union does not expect Belarus to fulfill the bloc’s 12 conditions all at once, Ms. Schmid said.

In November 2006, the EU published a document titled, "What the European Union Could Bring to Belarus," which contained 12 conditions that the Belarusian government was to meet to be fully involved in the European Neighborhood Policy. The conditions included, among others, the release of political prisoners, democratic elections, freedom of the media, an end to arbitrary arrests and prosecution, the proper investigation of high-profile disappearances, an independent judiciary, respect for trade unions’ rights, and the abolition of the death penalty.

“No one expects miracles to happen overnight,” Ms. Schmid said. “We hope to see continued consistent steps towards democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. We should look at the development of our relations as a process. The EU is ready to re-engage with Belarus progressively, in connection with further positive steps on the side of Belarus. This logic entails that we would not wait for everything to be perfect, but rather develop and deepen our relations in an evolutionary manner.”

According to Ms. Schmid, EU officials have been in constant contact with the Belarusian authorities in the last 18 months. “I myself have visited Belarus three times since March 2007 for talks with various Belarusian counterparts, both in government and within civil society,” she noted. “We have also had useful meetings in Brussels. I am hopeful that these contacts will continue to deepen and develop, and I am certain that there will be further visits. The EU places great importance on maintaining and developing dialogue.”