BRATISLAVA, March 3, (WEBNOVINY) – The European Union will not communicate with Belarus until a single political prisoner is jailed there, said Slovakia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda (SDKU-DS) following an extended ministerial conference of the Visegrad Group with the Eastern Partnership countries in Bratislava on Thursday. “A country where totalitarianism rules has no future,” he said, referring to Belarusian regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
Dzurinda said he does not know what the reaction of the Belarusian leader will be to this stance, but he is convinced that the EU will act unanimously. “No one will cooperate with his regime,” he underscored. The Slovak minister also addressed Secretary of the Belarus Foreign Affairs Ministry Valerij Voronetsky, who was attending the meeting, pointing to his own experience with lack of freedom during the communist regime, as well as from the mid-1990s. “Only democracy and allegiance to values such as human rights, pluralistic society and democracy can bring a higher living standard to the people of Belarus,” he said.
The meeting also hosted guests including EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule and German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Westerwelle emphasized that transformation can be successful and that democratic development brings economic success as well. He used the story of success of the V4 countries as an example. At the same time, he emphasized that the EU has to insist on democratic values, as the EU is far from just a common market, but mainly a group based on common values.
In addition to Belarus, other countries of Eastern Partnership are also participating, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Dzurinda said that those of these countries that implement reforms more quickly should have more advantages than others.
The goal of the meeting is to send a strong political signal of the Visegrad Group countries‘ support for Eastern Partnership policy, so that it may foster the political and economic stabilization of the partner states effectively, said the Slovak Foreign Ministry.
SITA