EU tries to find measures so that Belarus does not fall into Russia’s hands
Barodicz: “I believe the European Union will not lift visa sanctions against all Belarus officials. The sanctions will remain against the key figures that are responsible for this election rigging. But EU is also interested in maintaining contacts with Belarus at least at the working level. This would allow to resolve the most acute problems, e.g. to simplify visa procedures for Belarusians”.
ERB: Why didn’t Poland who usually takes a rather critical position towards the official Minsk oppose to the lifting of sanctions against Belarus officials this time?
Barodicz: “Firstly, Polish politicians do not forget that we have a common border with Belarus. Secondly, there are almost 500,000 ethnic Poles living in Belarus. The Polish government also tries to resolve the problem with the two unions of Poles in Belarus. These are the problems that also affect economic relations between our countries and make life more difficult for Belarusian and Polish businesspeople. These are the reasons why the Polish government has a rather reserved policy towards Belarus”.
ERB: Are Europe and Poland ready to keep their eyes closed about the situation with democracy, seeking to have Belarus as a friend against Russia?
Barodzicz: “First of all, I believe that the European Union does not forget about the developments with human rights and democracy in Belarus. But there is another sign of the coin which puts Europe in a rather difficult situation. The EU is trying to come up with a certain mechanism of actions to that Belarus is not pushed into the hands of Russia.
We are talking here exclusively pragmatically. The EU and especially Poland would like to have a border with Belarus, not with the Russian Federation. The more EU restricts ties with Belarusians, the more it pushes Belarus into the Russian hands. On the one hand, we talk about the visa policy; on the other hand, we talk about simplified procedures for travel of Belarusians in Europe.
These are things that EU can’t resolve unilaterally. This pushes Europe towards the restoration of certain cooperation with the current Belarusian regime. I believe that the majority of European politicians have no doubts that this election was rigged and it was difficult for independent media to cover the polls.
However, European politicians have no doubts either that the Belarusian opposition is divided and has carried out a bad campaign despite difficult freer conditions than before.
European politicians are also convinced that Belarusians are not yet ready for democratic changes. It may sound as a generalization, but the way the Western countries look at it is that stability and hard rule are the most important for Belarusians. Europe can see that the opposition is unable to ensure stability and a hard rule. These are the major factors that predetermined today’s behavior of Europe".
