German media: “Lukashenka is Two-Faced Janus. Europe shouldn’t forget about 12 conditions”
- 16.03.2009, 13:22
By suspending visa sanctions against officials of Lukashenka’s regime the European Union ignored its demands to the Belarusian authorities, it had put forward before.
German Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes about this. The article is dedicated to the today’s summit of the EU foreign ministers, where relations with Belarus are to be discussed.
The newspapers wonders: should the West make concessions to the dictator of the EU neighbour country, lift travel ban to the EU for him, allocate more money for tackling the financial crisis in order to make Belarus closer? Is it admissible to close eyes to dissidents, thrown into prison, dispersal of demonstrations, elections fraud?
AS the edition writes, “we speak here de-facto about Two-Faced Janus – Lukashenka, and about how seriously the West should take signals from Minsk. The Eastern Partnership program is to be launched in early May. A question of whether Lukashenka should be invited to Prague is still topical.”
According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung, “three years ago, the European Commission put forward 12 requirements to Minsk, among them release of political prisoners, stopping of persecution opposition, NGOs, media... Europe didn’t recognize parliamentary elections 2008 democratic. Nevertheless, soon after the elections the EU suspended visa bans for high-ranking Belarusian officials for six months. It means that the EU ignores its own demands and keeps the door open.
The 54-year old Belarusian ruler appears to know how to use advances. He refused to meet EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner last week. EU High Representative Javier Solana visited Minsk after arrested of people, criticising the regime, and dispersals of peaceful demonstrations.
Lukashenka negotiates with Moscow on financial aid, cooperates with Russian in military sector and claims he is interested in good relations with the West,” the newspaper writes.
The author of the article reminds that the Belarusian opposition has recently accused the authorities of incitement to suicide of Salihorsk human rights activist Yana Palyakova.