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Zmitser Dashkevich: Inviting Makei means EU doesn't want to learn from own mistakes

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Zmitser Dashkevich: Inviting Makei means EU doesn't want to learn from own mistakes

European leaders continue trying to establish cooperation with authoritarian regimes.

Zmitser Dashkevich, a co-head of Young Front and former political prisoner, said it in an interview with charter97.org.

– Belarusian foreign minister Uladzimir Makei and Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski meet today in Warsaw. Makei is involved in the brutal dispersion of the 2010 post-election protests. He was banned entry to the EU for a long time. Is it morally acceptable to invite such a person for a meeting?

– Such visits are absolutely acceptable in the framework of the inconsistent and unprincipled policy currently demonstrated by Brussels. I only regret that the EU does not want to learn from the mistakes it makes one by one by cooperating with authoritarian regimes and the people who killed, jailed and broke fates of tens and hundreds of people just yesterday.

– What is Makei's task for the meeting, in your opinion?

– As any official from Lukashenka's administration, Makei can perform just one function. The function of an errand boy who delivers messages from his boss. That's all. “We demand”, or “we ask”, or “we beg”, or “we are ready to trade”. He is just a carrier pigeon.

– Let's rephrase the question. What does Lukashenka expect from the meeting?

– I suppose Lukashenka wants to climb the next step of European politics. The first one, as we know, was some days ago, when he invited leaders of the European Parliament to Minsk and acted as a “peacemaker”. He now wants to be further legalised in western political institutions.

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