Valery Karbalevich: Taking part in dialog on modernization is safe for official Minsk

Opportunities for active participation of Belarusan authorities in the EaP Partnership program are still unclear, though it is possible that Aliaksandr Lukashenka will participate in the EaP Summit.

 This opinion shared in the talk with the EuroBelarus Information Service a political scientist Valery Karbalevich.

The political scientist recalled that the country-partner of the EU can expect grants for some projects only if there are well-developed relations between this country and the EU. Besides, The EU shouldn’t have political claims to this country in the questions of democracy and human rights. As there are such claims to Belarus, it means that all the EaP programs are basically frozen for our country. And their unfreezing will happen only when all the above mentioned claims are removed.

However, Valery Karbalevich didn’t exclude the possibility that during the EaP Summit, which is to be held in Vilnius in November, Belarus will be presented at the highest level. “We can even concede the most radical scenario, when Belarus releases all political prisoners and in return the EU decides to invite the President Lukashenka to the summit”, - said the expert.

The Foreign Ministry of Belarus has shown certain interest towards the “European dialog on Modernization of Belarus” program. But so far, state officials haven’t made any statements about their readiness to participate in the program.

“In theory, we can assume that Belarusan authorities can take notice of that program, - said Valery Karbalevich. – As the participation in it doesn’t commit them to anything. We can sit down for discussion, talk on modernization, and conduct a seminar. But it is rather hard to say how such participation can unfreeze relations with Europe”.