Dzmitry Barodka: Condoleezza Rice’s interest in Belarus is sincere and genuine :: Charter'97 :: News

“It was not just a formal meeting. One could see that Ms. Rice shows genuine interest in Belarusian issue. Her words of support addressed to us were truly heartfelt,” shared his impressions Dzmitry Barodka, member of the Steering Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus”, who was among the participants of the meeting with the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Vilnius yesterday. In his interview to the Charter’97 press center he also stressed that this meeting of the Belarusian opposition delegation with the US Secretary of State is the first one within the last five years; and that it has been long since the official authorities of Belarus had the contacts at such a high level.

As said by Barodka, the meeting where European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Foreign Minister of Lithuania Antanas Valionis have taken part as well, was held behind the closed doors. The exchange of views has lasted for about an hour and exceeded the planned limit of time.

“In my statement I said that every year more than 4 thousand politically motivated repressions are registered by us. This figure shows that Belarus is a stronghold of tyranny on the European continent today. But at the same time this figure shows that there are enough people in Belarus who are fighting for freedom of their country. We see Belarus as a free and independent state, and we are ready to pay the costs for that,” told Dzmitry Barodka.

He also told how together with the comrades from the Zubr movement he had been taking part in the revolutionary events in Kyiv:

“We were inspired with great optimism. If the peaceful revolution was possible in Kyiv, it is possible in Minsk. We believe in our strength, we believe in our victory, we see Belarus a free and prosperous state in the European family of nations”.

By the way, when Barodka was presenting himself, Ms. Rice noted that she knew about the “Free Belarus”, which was represented at the meeting also by Svetlana Zavadskaya, one of the leaders of the civil initiative “We Remember”.

Summarizing the results of the meeting, Condoleezza Rice has made a conclusion that four issues are important for Belarus now.

First is a breakthrough of the informational vacuum in the society. The second is to give a possibility for the nation to unite around some important even, around some idea. For instance, around the topic of the disappeared politicians and public figures, as it had happened in Argentine once, where this topic caused the downfall of the regime. Thirdly, as Condoleezza Rice underlined, the political opposition is to unite the civil society. And fourthly, prior to the elections in 2006 it is necessary to find a candidate who is to become a realistic alternative to the current regime.

- We remember you and we think of you, you are to remain in our thoughts,- she finished.

At a press conference held by Condoleezza Rice on the results of her visit to Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe, the first question concerned the situation in Belarus. In Lithuania, where Condoleezza Rice met with the Belarusian delegation, the topic of Belarus became predominant in the media.