The West is going to continue dialogue with official Minsk
The Belarusian opposition calls such negotiations backstage talks and demands an open dialogue.
The negotiations conducted between Europe and Belarus are backstage and they are not being made public in any way. European officials think that this method will bring the needed results. In spite of this, the head of the UCP Anatol Lyabedzka is sure that the negotiations should be transparent:
“It is not clear who is negotiating with whom. It is not clear whether the talks can be called negotiations or whether they are something that resembles negotiations… It is not an open and transparent process; it is something happening behind the scenes. It is not the best way to conduct negotiations. It is difficult to predict anything when there is no agenda and no subjects of the process of negotiations. The talks are backstage and closed and this is a drawback of the situation we can observe now”.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Minsk and Europe continue. It will be happening in the future too, claimed David Stulik, the coordinator of EC press and information programmes in Ukraine, in an inwterview with ERB:
“The main policy of the European Union is the well-known document on Belarus published in 2006. The document is “What can EU give to Belarus?”. It contains the EU policy that is still up-to-date. Negotiations between Belarus and the European Union will continue. Our policy totally corresponds to this document”.
The European Union has made certain steps and is waiting for Belarus’s response, continues Mr. Stulik:
“The Council of Foreign Ministers claimed that it was ready for a dialogue with the Belarusian authorities and people participating in democratic discussions in order to support the process of democratization and observation of human rights in Belarus on October 13. The Council of Ministers decided to cancel some measures including the list of personae non gratae. It was done to allow the dialogue to continue”.
According to David Stulik, the European Union hopes that the Belarusian authorities will continue strengthening democracy. Speaking about meetings, they will continue and their level will be increasing:
“The European Commission decided to improve our mutual technical negotiations in the spheres of mutual interest on October 13. Meetings and negotiations are being organized now and will continue in the future. Meetings of the kind have already been planned and will take place within the next few weeks”.
Let us remind you that representatives of Xavier Solana are expected to arrive in Minsk on December 16. Alyaksandr Milinkevich informed ERB about it. According to him, “a road map” of relations between the official Minsk and the European Union will probably be created during the visit:
“The visit was appointed for November 30-December1 but he phoned me and said that it had been put off till December 16. I think that the visit of Helga Schmidt will contribute to the elaboration of “the road map” discussed at the moment. Each side will know what to do and what to expect from the other side”.
Furthermore, European officials will meet representatives of the authorities and the opposition during the visit. The former presidential candidate is going to touch upon the issue of political prisoners remaining in jail and the end of political repressions. He will also mention the possibility of registration for unregistered nongovernmental organizations.
Photo by: www.naviny.by
The negotiations conducted between Europe and Belarus are backstage and they are not being made public in any way. European officials think that this method will bring the needed results. In spite of this, the head of the UCP Anatol Lyabedzka is sure that the negotiations should be transparent:
“It is not clear who is negotiating with whom. It is not clear whether the talks can be called negotiations or whether they are something that resembles negotiations… It is not an open and transparent process; it is something happening behind the scenes. It is not the best way to conduct negotiations. It is difficult to predict anything when there is no agenda and no subjects of the process of negotiations. The talks are backstage and closed and this is a drawback of the situation we can observe now”.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Minsk and Europe continue. It will be happening in the future too, claimed David Stulik, the coordinator of EC press and information programmes in Ukraine, in an inwterview with ERB:
“The main policy of the European Union is the well-known document on Belarus published in 2006. The document is “What can EU give to Belarus?”. It contains the EU policy that is still up-to-date. Negotiations between Belarus and the European Union will continue. Our policy totally corresponds to this document”.
The European Union has made certain steps and is waiting for Belarus’s response, continues Mr. Stulik:
“The Council of Foreign Ministers claimed that it was ready for a dialogue with the Belarusian authorities and people participating in democratic discussions in order to support the process of democratization and observation of human rights in Belarus on October 13. The Council of Ministers decided to cancel some measures including the list of personae non gratae. It was done to allow the dialogue to continue”.
According to David Stulik, the European Union hopes that the Belarusian authorities will continue strengthening democracy. Speaking about meetings, they will continue and their level will be increasing:
“The European Commission decided to improve our mutual technical negotiations in the spheres of mutual interest on October 13. Meetings and negotiations are being organized now and will continue in the future. Meetings of the kind have already been planned and will take place within the next few weeks”.
Let us remind you that representatives of Xavier Solana are expected to arrive in Minsk on December 16. Alyaksandr Milinkevich informed ERB about it. According to him, “a road map” of relations between the official Minsk and the European Union will probably be created during the visit:
“The visit was appointed for November 30-December1 but he phoned me and said that it had been put off till December 16. I think that the visit of Helga Schmidt will contribute to the elaboration of “the road map” discussed at the moment. Each side will know what to do and what to expect from the other side”.
Furthermore, European officials will meet representatives of the authorities and the opposition during the visit. The former presidential candidate is going to touch upon the issue of political prisoners remaining in jail and the end of political repressions. He will also mention the possibility of registration for unregistered nongovernmental organizations.
Photo by: www.naviny.by
