NATO: Presidential elections in Belarus will become a test for further relations

Free and fair elections will become a strong basis for revising relations with Belarus by NATO member states, bloc's spokesman James Appathurai said in a statement. "It is obvious that free and fair presidential elections will be an important litmus paper test for further relations bween NATO and Belarus. NATO will positively assess the polls if recognized by international observers", he said.

 

James Apparthurai also noted there were no political preconditions for closer ties between Belarus and the bloc. "I have worked at NATO for a quite a long time and have seen difficult moments in relations between NATO and Belarus. Now, the relations are better a bit than we saw before. The sides need to have closer relations. There also should be political preconditions. So far, they are not there. The situation has not changed significantly and I do not forsee fast changes. This is not a technical but a political issue", he said.

 

In the fall of 2009, Belarus and Russia held the biggest joint military exercise since the 'Cold War' times. The NATO representative said when meeting a delegation from Belarus in Brussels that the drills "did not meet the spirit of partnership"."Compared with the military drills of the 'Cold War' times, the scale of the-2009 was not big. But given the modern conditions, the scale was big indeed..

 

Meanwhile, according to the poll conducted by the Belarusian Instute of Strategic Studies and independent pollster Novak Laboratory, 22 percent of those polled are in favor of developing relations with NATO and almost 11 percent would like Belarus to join the bloc. One third of the residents were unable to answer how they saw relations with NATO. Political analysts reckon that very few people in Belarus know about NATO and how it works. 

 

Every year, NATO and Belarus hold nearly 100 joint events, including language course for Belarusian officers and trainings. For instance, NATO organizes 500-600 events with Finland which is not a member state of the bloc.

 

NATO criticized the 2006 presidential elections in Belarus that were not recognized by OSCE observers but decided to continue contacts, because it would be counterproductive to freeze contacts.