British ambassador notes no progress in relations with Belarus in last two years :: Charter'97 :: News

British Ambassador Brian Bennett said that his country’s relations with Belarus have not improved since he came to Minsk two years ago. “In terms of Belarus’ move towards a liberal market economy there has been no progress, indeed there have been steps backwards,” he said in last week’s interview with BelaPAN.

The diplomat played down Belarus’ upbeat statistics on trade with Britain, saying that it included oil products originating in Russia and re-exports. “As far as I can tell, the underlying trade position has not changed in the last two years,” he stressed.

“We see fewer [British] businessmen here than we did two years ago and investors are very cautious,” the diplomat said, adding that the Belarusian economy needs foreign investments and innovation.

Mr. Bennett noted what he called “a great desire to have more cultural exchanges with Britain,” but, according to him, the British Council’s 2000 closure made it difficult for the British embassy to promote bilateral cultural cooperation. However, he added, the diplomatic mission has been doing its best to encourage direct contacts between Belarusian and British cultural organizations. In particular, the embassy plans to attract British experts in the cultural field to “see whether assistance that might be available could be channeled here.”

The ambassador stressed that the Belarusian government’s recent directive requiring Belarusian students to obtain permission from the education ministry to study abroad would hamper academic exchanges. Mr. Bennett expressed the hope that a March 17-18 workshop in Vilnius focusing on the European Union’s assistance to Belarusian civil society would result in more active cooperation in the cultural and education spheres.

Britain’s bilateral approach to political relations with Belarus is “no different to that of the European Union,” according to the ambassador.

“The people of Belarus deserve better,” he stressed, expressing the hope that Belarus would become an open and democratic country honoring democratic principles that “Britain and the European Union take for granted.” “With Belarus now a neighbour of the European Union, it’s important to strive towards good relations. The European Union is not a threat to Belarus, it wants good neighbourly relations,” he concluded.