Lord Skidelsky: Belarus has to become a member of the Council of Europe

"We have to be constructive friends, not destructive. I believe that there are many options to improve our relations", underlined Lord Skidelsky.

A British Parliamentarian said that he was a supporter of the step-by-step strategy. "The first step should be the signing of the Convention on Human Rights and the entry of Belarus to the Council of Europe", said Lord Skidelsky.

Speaking about the Belarusian economic model, the Lord noted that the "Anglo-American model of capitalism is a great issue at the moment and that a course of the country with the focus on the gradual stable development is justified." According to the British Parliamentarian, the desire of the leadership of the country ( Belarus – A&F) to avoid ‘shock therapy’ resulted in a "not destroyed economy, compared with other CIS countries, and allowed to retain key communications with other markets." He also highlighted the absence of corruption in Belarus.

Lord Skidelsky, in his speech expressed his belief that the willingness of Belarus to get closer to Europe is due to the deterioration of the relations with Russia. "In 2007, the economic relations between Belarus and Russia had not stalled, they trapped. Russia has taken several decisions to double the price on oil and gas, and the paradigm of the relationship has changed. As a result, Belarus is working hard to improve relations with Europe", said Lord Skidelsky.

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