David Merkel: "At first, release Kazulin"

David Merkel, the deputy US Secretary of State on European and Eurasian issues appointed in March, told ERB that America was not going to reduce the staff of its Embassy to our country and was still waiting for the Belarusian authorities to release Alyaksandr Kazulin. According to the politician, nothing can promote the isolation of Belarus more than the political persecution in the country.

ERB: Mr. Merkel, you have managed to visit Moldova since you were appointed deputy US Secretary of State. Are you going to visit Belarus?

David Merkel: I did visit Moldova and Ukraine but I am not going to visit Belarus in the near future.

ERB: How would you describe the current state of Belarus-America relations taking into account that the American Ambassador is still outside Belarus and the Belarusian government demands further reduction of the staff of the Embassy?

David Merkel: As far as I remember, the authorities demanded that we should reduce our staff to 17 people and we fulfilled that demand. However, they pronounced a groundless and unjustified order to reduce our staff again – to 5 or 6 people. We did not fulfill the demand and we consider it to be objectionable. We are sure that the first good thing to do would be to let our Ambassador return to Minsk.

ERB: Does the absence of the US Ambassador in Minsk worsen the relations between our countries?

David Merkel: Of course it is not useful. We think that our dialogue could be more regular if our Ambassador was there. We took additional measures – including meetings of Ambassadors here in Brussels… however, we consider the suggestion to reduce the staff of the Embassy to be objectionable and we would like our Embassy to function normally.

ERB: Has the opinion of the USA about the sanctions imposed on Belarusian enterprises changed? Will any other enterprises be added on the list if the Belarusian authorities do not express a desire to cooperate and continue acting like this?

David Merkel: the sanctions are connected with the problems of human rights and democracy in Belarus. Belarusians know what should be done to change the situation for the better: they should release Alyaksandr Kazulin and to make certain efforts in order to improve the situation concerning human rights.

If it happens, we will be able to conduct our dialogue at a higher level.
At the moment, the authorities have made an additional obstacle on the way by their actions directed against our Embassy.

However, any sanctions may be imposed only in response to the general situation concerning democracy and human rights.

ERB: What do the American authorities think about the dispersal of demonstrators during the action that took place on March 25 and the following confiscation of equipment from flats of independent journalists?

David Merkel: Speaking about the sanctions, it is necessary to stress that as soon as Belarusians make certain steps – release Kazulin and make other positive steps they agreed to make on the way to the democratization, we will make steps to lift the sanctions.

Of course we are worried about the use of force on March 25. I should say that the violent dispersal of the crowd in March, threatening and staff reduction of our Embassy are additional actions of the government that might require to be given account of.

ERB: Free parliamentary election in September is one of the steps to be made by the Belarusian authorities to prove their readiness for the dialogue. What will Belarus have do to show that the elections will be more democratic?

David Merkel: The authorities have invited OSCE observers but it may become pretence if the fundamental terms are not fulfilled. We should ensure that the pre-election environment will promote competition and that parties will be able to participate in the elections and creation of election commissions and that independent mass media will not have problems covering the elections.

ERB: What other measures will the USA and its partners take to persuade the Belarusian authorities into going in this direction? According to experts, some of the recent steps – like limitation of the membership of Belarus in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council - may lead to further isolation of the country. Will such measures be taken in the future?

David Merkel: It is not our measures that are making Belarus isolated. It is Lukashenka’s actions. It should be clearly understood. The Belarusian authorities know what should be done to let the population make use of their geographic advantages and connections with the European Union. I think that the USA has established a good cooperation with the European Union in this field. We consider the announcement of the Slovenian head of the EU to continue the sanctions imposed on Belarus, to freeze the assets and to prolong visa sanctions against Belarusian officials as two very positive steps. They demonstrate that both the USA and the EU insist on changes in Belarus.