David Kramer: I don't understand those advocating for dialogue with Lukashenka

The government of Belarus did nothing to attend the Eastern Partnership summit.

Freedom House President David J. Kramer spoke about the political situation in Russia and Belarus in an interview with ru.delfi.lt.

In his opinion, the human rights situation in Russia is the worst since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As for Belarus, Kramer has even more adamand stance. He does not understand Europeans who want a dialogue with the regime of Lukashenka, because the later did nothing for it and political prisoners still remain in jails.

– How do you consider the situation in Russia in the context the recent events? I mean the human rights situation first of all.

I think it is the worst we have seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. If you look at the period after Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency in last May, a number of laws were adopted to suppress civil society. Pressure, extremism, actions against rallies and NGOs, the case of Alexei Navalny and participants Bolotnaya Square protests and so on.

– The next question is about Belarus. How would you describe Europe's intention to have a dialogue with the Belarusian authorities?

When I was here in January, I recommended that Belarus should be represented by civil society and opposition, not by the government, at the Eastern Partnership Summit. The government hasn't done anything to show they can be represented at the serious legitimate level. They still have 13 political prisoners who have not been rehabilitated. I don't understand why the European Union wants the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka to be represented at the summit. This is what I cannot understand.

It should be reminded that Justas Paleckis, the European Parliament's Rapporteur on Belarus, said about a “discernible improvement” of the human rights situation in Belarus in 2012 and a positive impact of the European Dialogue on Modernisation on the development of civil society. He proposed to increase contacts with Belarusian officials, prepare a strategic “roadmap” to enhance a dialogue with official Minsk, including interparliamentary relations and suspend key officials from the EU visa ban list to broaden diplomatic communication channels.

Paleckis's report was published on the website of the European Parliament.