He’s Mad at Her :: Charter'97 :: News

“Today they told me that Alexander Lukashenko is kind of angry with me,” – said at the recent press-conference the member of OSCE PA special group in Belarus Uta Tsapf, finishing her visit to Belarus. The president refused to host a reception for the European deputies, although they had submitted an official request on the audience. The group, consisting of Uta Tsapf, Urban Alin and lord Fred Ponsobi, headed home with a feeling that no democratization is underway in Belarus, which means that they will not reinstate Belarus’ status at the forthcoming OSCE PA March assembly in Vienna.

Evaluating the events, which occurred ever since her last visit, Uta Tsapf concluded: “The situation didn’t grow any better at all. Moreover, it only deteriorated.” Indeed, practically every new paragraph of the special group’s final press-release starts with the concern by this or that fact of clampdown on democracy: the government failed to soften electoral legislation, evicted opposition from the election race (for insignificant motives – OSCE PA), there still is no progress on key legislative acts (especially law on media, ombudsman and national assembly). The authors of the document regret that they cease investigating into the disappearances of politicians; that incarcerated professor Yuri Bandazhevsky’s condition worsened and the whole of Chigir’s family became an object of political repressions.

Two views on the group’s mandate
Mrs.Tsapf and her colleague from Great Britain lord Ponsobi spoke a lot on the renewed OSCE mandate in Belarus. It was evident that their vision of it is totally opposite to the official Minsk’s. The Europeans never perceived the narrowing of their functions as a result of some concessions on part of the OSCE. Moreover, Europe has seemingly learnt the rules of the diplomatic game as played by Belarus. “When we met with the Administration officials, we got an impression as if opening of the new OSCE office is their free-will gift to our organization. However, this shouldn’t be regarded as such at all,” – noted Tsapf. She went on to say that the European Union has an adequate mechanism of responding to the Belarusian authorities’ policy – visa restrictions against the top Belarusian officials and the like. In other words, opening the new OSCE office in Minsk is rather a resolution of the complex crisis”. At the same time she explained that visa ban must be lifted by the same organization, which imposed it – that is the European Union. This time it won’t be so easy to fool the western politicians: Ebergard Haiken’s visit to Minsk will no longer be enough in order to put visa ban cancellation on the daily agenda. The only sufficient condition for that will be the resumption of normal operation within the framework of the mandate”.

Tsapf added that there has been no narrowing of the mandate. Instead it now includes to extra sections: economy and ecology. As far as the economic development and environmental protection are listed as OSCE problems, there’s nothing odd in the mandate.

The thought, voiced by the Belarusian authorities, that the OSCE group must get an approval of the Belarusian leadership received negative commentary too. “We aren’t going to expect any approvals of our work on part of the Belarusian authorities,” – said Tsapf: “We simply have too coordinate and cooperate”.

Lord Ponsobi added to that by saying that “the new OSCE office’s mandate is no weaker than its predecessor. If some definitions found no expression in written form, that in no wise means that the OSCE will not be engaged in those types of activities”. So it wasn’t for nothing that Uta Tsapf mentioned this phrase: “We can’t say for sure that the new office won’t get shut by the end of the year”.

Mr.Haiken is said to arrive in Minsk on February 9. The OSCE office’s budget and number of its personnel will remain unchanged. We’ll see whether the new OSCE mission’s head will manage to combine in his work the approaches, which will satisfy both the Belarusian and European sides.