European Union postpones "Belarusian issue"?

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 27 countries-members of the EU will get together on February 27 in order to discuss Syria, Egypt, South Caucasus, Kosovo, and the situation at the Middle East. According to the information discovered by Euroradio, the "Belarusian issue" is not on the agenda.

“In Belarus’ case, we have a decision on restrictive measures. The decision on expanding the criteria under which a person may be included into the “black list” was taken back in January. Now the countries-members of the EU are working on definitions and means of additional pressure on the Belarusian authorities. However, at present moment this work is still in progress and I cannot tell you exactly when it finishes”, — says Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for the EU's High Representative.

It was expected that the EU would expand the "black list" of those who were responsible for repressions, on February 27. In particular, EU's representative Gunnar Wiegand said this during his visit to Belarus.

In the opinion of political scientist Alyaksandr Papko, non-inclusion of the Belarusian issue into the agenda of the Council of Foreign Ministers means that this topic will not be considered, by 99%. Moreover, the EU has other problems to discuss.

Alyaksandr Papko: “Many tense things are happening in the world now, like the situations in Syria, Iran, trading relations. Thus, the Belarusian issue should not necessarily be the one of the first priority”.

Alyaksandr Papko thinks that the recent scandal connected with the suggestion to shorten the “black list” might have influenced the European Union’s decision.

Alyaksandr Papko: “I mean the suggestions to reconsider the criteria of the sanctions, or critical observations of the sanctions from the side of the Belarusian experts, who said that the criteria are rather vague. This could have facilitated sending this decision for further elaboration”.

Political scientist Yury Chavusau says that a new round of secret negotiations between the EU and the Belarusian authorities is taking place now. Although both parties are not very willing to provide any information in this regard to the media, absence of the “Belarusian issue” on the agenda of the February 27 session only confirms that such negotiations truly exist. 

Yury Chavusau: “Absence of the Belarusian issue in the Council of the EU’s agenda may be a sign that the trade goes on. Alongside with the severe statements, the parties exchange quieter messages at the diplomatic level”.

According to Yury Chavusau, two positions on expanding the visa sanctions against the Belarusian authorities exist at the moment. However, as for the visa limitations, they do not satisfy anyone.

Yury Chavusau: “Some suggest expanding the sanctions saying that the visa limitations are not enough. From the other side, the visa sanctions skeptics say that they need to be abolished, and to be replaced not by the economic sanctions, but by the policy of involvement”.

It is interesting what they think about the efficiency of the visa sanctions in the EU. If they also hesitate, it is unclear which other methods of influence on Minsk the European officials will choose.

Photo: pravdu.com.ua