Andrus Kubilius: Belarus Desperately Needs EU Membership :: Charter'97 :: News

“The only chance for Belarus to get out of the swamp is to become candidate for the EU accession,” – assumes Andrus Kubilius, Lithuanian Sojm’s deputy, leader of the conservative parliamentary faction, former Lithuanian Prime Minister (1997-1999).

“Belarus was deprived of an opportunity to normally develop,” – said he in an interview, published in “Narodnaya Volya” on January 21: “And so our duty as the duty of the whole democratic world is to help them out somehow. I assume that our membership in NATO and EU will help to develop the projects of such aid. And we will do just that, for the EU look to us as main specialists on Eastern Europe and Belarus”.

According to the Lithuanian parliamentarian “Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova must count on getting candidate status for the EU membership”. “Only EU has an effective tool of making normal countries out of such young democracy as Lithuania and in future – Belarus. And so the only way for Belarus to get out of the swamp is to become EU candidate. And then there will start mutual cooperation with a clear objective. Then you will realize what needs to be done first and in what direction the country should move”.