German Analyst: Belarus Is European To Very Roots Of Its Being
- 26.12.2023, 11:27
There is a noticeable shift in the sentiments of the Belarusian society.
Jakob Wallenstein, head of the Belarusian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, has written an article on Belarus and its prospects of joining the European Union.
In his article Wallenstein writes that although it sounds utopian at the moment, but in the long run it would be in the European political interest for the country to join the European Union, as Belarus is a European country in many senses.
The EU countries are preparing for the next elections to the European Parliament, which will be held in June 2024, the contours of the political landscape of Europe are changing, and the people of Belarus have found themselves at the very centre of significant geopolitical shifts.
The declaration on the prospect of Belarus' membership in the European Union, adopted by the democratic forces at the "New Belarus" conference in August 2023, testifies to a decisive reorientation from the orbit of Russia to the European trajectory, writes the German analyst.
According to Jacob Wallenstein, it's not just about geography. The Belarusian nation is also deeply European in historical and cultural terms.
The growth of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century, with Belarus at its centre, the role of this state in the Renaissance and its pioneering constitutionalism in the 18th century underline the inner European identity of Belarus.
The troubles of the 20th century, wars and totalitarianism, inflicted deep wounds on Belarus, but the nation's enduring European essence remained intact. The fall of communism and subsequent attempts to mend relations with the West brought some glimmers of freedom and national revival, which was replaced by Lukashenka's authoritarian regime and neo-Soviet governance.
Despite the pro-Russian orientation of Lukashenka's regime, there has been a noticeable shift in the sentiments of Belarusian society.
While surveys showed even back in 2018 that around 60 per cent of Belarusians were in favour of closer ties with Russia, this figure fell below 40 per cent at the end of 2020 amid the brutal crackdown on protests following the rigged presidential election.
It is also telling that the vast majority of Belarusians under 45 favour Western democratic systems and values: as many as 60% of people under 30 hold this view.