No difference between American and EU policy toward Belarus, British ambassador says :: Charter'97 :: News

“There is very little between the American policy towards Belarus and the European Union policy towards Belarus. Little to the point of being nothing at all,” British Ambassador Brian Bennett said at a news conference in Minsk on April 28.

The British embassy currently represents in Belarus Luxembourg, which presides over the EU.
The ambassador noted that the EU finances projects in Belarus through international organizations, for instance the United Nations, the European Commission’s office in Kyiv and the Technical Assistance to the CIS (TACIS) program, which has an office in Minsk.
The European Union has had a number of difficulties with the latter, he noted. “And now we are looking at more flexibility in the way we channel money.”

The ambassador added that the EU hopes to increase assistance to Belarus in the near future.
According to him, the EU seeks to increase engagement with the civil society and provide more training for representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) so that more attempts can be made to preserve freedoms such as freedom of association and expression.

“We will not give up on Belarus,” Mr. Bennett stressed, noting that the EU will continue to make comments and recommendations for the Belarusian government.

“Our intention is to help Belarus, not to hurt the country,” he pointed out. “We would not use sanctions that hurt Belarus. ‘Sanctions’ is a wrong word. We would like to take measures where possible to influence the policy of the Belarusian government.”

“We all would like to avoid punishing Belarus,” added US Ambassador George Krol. “That is why we call on the Belarusian authorities to take to take steps that are again in their own interest and the interest of the Belarusian people -- it is not purely the interest of the United States or the European Union or European countries - it is in the interest of the people of Belarus to respect their rights, the rights of all Belarusians under the Constitution and under international agreements to which Belarus is a signatory.”

He expressed hope that the Belarusian authorities will respond “without force or the use of punishing measures” to the engagement of the outside world, and to their own people, in the call to respect rights of all Belarusians.

The ambassador said that the focus of the United States assistance is on the election process leading to a democratic result.

“We do not support particular parties or candidates in any country’s elections. Our support is to encourage greater civic participation in the electoral process, balanced media coverage, non-partisan political party training, election monitoring by local and international observers and improvements in election administration.”

He quoted US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying in Vilnius last week, “The people of Belarus will have to make their own determination about how to move forward. But the key is that the people ought to be able to speak their minds and there ought to be a free media.”