"Frankfurter Allgemeine": Belarus-West Relations Resemble Cold War :: Charter'97 :: News

“Following an elegant victory at the elections Lukashenko launched total cleansing,” – an article under such heading was written by Markus Vener – Moscow correspondent of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine”, who was the first person among the European journalists to reveal truth about death quads in Belarus. The journalist notes that in course of the last four months the Belarusian dictator did everything according to his own pleasure: imprisoned heads of large companies and even sought to destroy the work of the OSCE mission in Minsk. According to the chairman of the OSCE parliamentary working group Uta Tsapf, all his actions testify to the possibility of escalating tensions between the West and Belarus. In essence, the situation resembles that of the cold war years.

“The recent dismissal of the head of the Minsk mission Hans-Georg Wieck, - writes Markus Vener: has finally enabled Lukashenko to breath a sigh of relief. More than once the Belarusian dictator nervously rebuked a 74-year old diplomat, claiming that the man “is training guerillas, who’re observing the elections during the daytime and pick up their weapons from under the bed during the nighttime.” As concerns Wieck, he, having realized that Lukashenko ignores any attempt of a dialogue with opposition, started, according to the OSCE mandate, to focus his attention on unifying opposition and creating the network of observers for the presidential elections. Needless to say that the Belarusian leader couldn’t wait till the ambassador files in resignation. Belarusian leader’s personal hatred went too far: recently they retaliated him once more by refusing Wieck a Belarusian entry visa, writes “Frankfurter Allgemeine”.

As said by Uta Tsapf, her hopes that in the aftermath of the elections Lukashenko might conduct an open policy, never came true. Although the September elections were but a farce, the OSCE and the EU recognized the isolation of Belarus as fallacious. However, says Uta Tsapf, the official Minsk in no time declared that the West must lift the blockade anyway. Liberalization, so much talked of by Lukashenko, remains invisible both for the West and the Belarusians themselves, - concludes “Frankfurter Allgemeine”.