German Ambassador: We continue to cooperate with civil society

Accusations of Germany allegedly financing the Belarusian opposition, which were spread by official Belarusian media, have no grounds.

This was said by Ambassador of Germany to Belarus Christof Weil in an interview to BelaPAN.

“These accusations have no grounds, the Federal Government refuted them,” Dr Weil said. “Germany was deeply disappointed with what happened after December 19, because it was we, the Germans, who have always stood for conducting a critical dialogue with Belarus.”

The Ambassador noted, “In Germany, both in the Bundestag and society, we have a wide consensus on our current relations with Belarus.”

According to the diplomat, prospects for Germany-Belarus political relations stem from the statement by the EU foreign ministers of January 31, 2011. “It sets some expectations and conditions, first of all, the release of Belarusian political prisoners. Besides, the ministers confirmed their adherence to the policy of critical cooperation with Belarus under certain conditions,” Weil said.

According to him, Germany still supports a dialogue with official Minsk, “if certain conditions are fulfilled by Belarus”. “The policy of Germany and other EU countries lies in further cooperation with the Belarusian civil society,” the Ambassador noted.

Weil also said he finds the Eastern Partnership programme “absolutely prospective” for Belarus.

“The Eastern Partnership programme has several wings,” the Ambassador reminded. “there is multilateral cooperation with different platforms as well as a bilateral part. Belarus is out of the bilateral segment.”

The German diplomat thinks it’s because Belarus and the EU have not still signed a bilateral agreement.

“The European Union has been expecting Belarus for many years to create preconditions in the spheres of democracy, law-governed state and human rights,” he noted.