Lukashenko, OSCE Dispute Goes On :: Charter'97 :: News

In his dispute with the OSCE, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko temporarily yielded to his opponents’ claims. After Lukashenko banished OSCE personnel from the country last year, thus attaining his ultimate goal, he in no time stated his readiness to allow another on-ground mission’s presence on the territory of the country. This was agreed by Belarus and OSCE on the very last day of the year.

After a de-facto shutdown of the OSCE AMG office in Minsk, chaired by Hans-Georg Wieck, Lukashenko passed a visa denial to Wieck’s successor at the post – former ambassador of Germany in Ukraine Eberhard Haiken. Belarus planned to get new OSCE group’s mandate, under which all of its projects would be fully dependent on the Belarusian leadership’s consent. OSCE didn’t feel at all like becoming paralyzed in her actions.

OSCE alone would never manage to dissuade Lukashenko from his plans. However, NATO went on to deny Lukashenko a right to engage in its Prague summit, dedicated to the alliance’s enlargement. 14 out of the 15 EU member-states imposed travel ban on him and seven other officials on October 19. A few days later the Americans also upheld that move. “Belarusian leadership had been taken aback by such unexpected solidarity,” – our correspondent was told by a western diplomat. Portugal alone, as the OSCE chairing country, was left in solitude, leaving the doors wide open for Belarus. The Foreign Ministry of Belarus Mikhail Khvostov used that opportunity and traveled to Porto, where it was determined to open the new mission there.