DATE:
31.01.2006
By Andrew Rettman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU should not rule out economic sanctions against Minsk and should sell the idea of a free Belarus to Russia, Belarus opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich told EUobserver after meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday (30 January).
The 58-year old physicist will represent the green, communist and social-democrat opposition groups in Belarus in the 19 March presidential elections, with analysts fearing the vote will fall short of western standards.
The EU on Monday repeated threats that Europe will take "further appropriate restrictive measures against the responsible individuals" if the election fears come true.
Polish and Lithuanian diplomats indicated the measures will probably involve banning more Belarus officials from traveling to the EU and freezing their European bank accounts.
The EU and the International Labour Organisation also started in mid-2005 a process that could see EU tariffs on selected Belarusian imports creep up under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) on trade.
But the EU has ruled out direct economic sanctions so far, arguing that trade bans are not the way forward because they impact ordinary people instead of president Alexander Lukashenko's regime.
Mr Milinkevich challenged the argument by saying the GSP move is an EU policy that is producing concrete results.
"When they [the Minsk authorities] began to dissolve independent trade unions, the International Labour Organisation introduced the idea of sanctions and it worked," he stated. "The authorities took a step back and allowed trade unions to function."
But he also urged Brussels to be "very careful" in forging any trade-based reaction after 19 March in case this harms "innocent Belarusians."
Russia is key to Belarus
The opposition leader indicated the EU's Belarus policy is coloured by western Europe's interest in keeping good political and energy relations with Russia.
"The big countries are always looking to their own needs in the new division of Europe, where Belarus seems to have fallen into the Russian sphere," he said. "They need to find arguments that a democratic Belarus is good for Russia."
Mr Milinkevich explained there is a new circle of "pragmatists" around Russian president Vladimir Putin "who are willing to listen to such arguments" in order to build influence with a new class of young, educated Belarusians who form the backbone of the opposition.
He added that Russia risks losing Belarus as a trade partner due to the economic policies of the current government, which is "driving the country into bankruptcy."
The opposition leader said there are also Cold War-mode thinkers in Moscow however, who see Belarus as being an EU satellite or a Russian satellite rather than an independent state.
"We want to be a true bridge between east and west, not some kind of backyard that everybody walks through," he indicated.
EU should support 'illegal' press
Mr Milinkevich urged the EU to support underground newspapers and pamphlets in Belarus even if these are deemed "illegal" under Belarusian law.
He compared the situation in Belarus to communist-era Poland, which complained of western influence in its political process, even though true politicial process did not exist in Poland at the time.
"This is democracy versus dictatorship. This is not a political process," he said.
The opposition leader indicated information about the EU is vital to his group, adding that news of his Brussels visit would trickle in despite Minsk's control of most TV and radio media.
"It will break down the propaganda catchphrase that 'No one is waiting for you in Europe,'" he stated.
Mr Milinkevich explained that while Minsk routinely portrays the EU via images of dole queues and tramps, propaganda fatigue has begun to take hold.
"The authorities have oversteppped the mark. It's got to the situation where people think, 'if they say it's bad, it must be good,'" he explained.
Source:
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