Lithuanian Prime Minister: “Belarus Could Opt for Democratic Development” 15:24, 08/02/2007
The pronounced desire of Minsk to improve relations with the West after the energy row with Moscow could be a sign that Belarus would opt for democratic development, the Prime Minister of Lithuania Gediminas Kirkilas believes. “It is possible that the government and leadership of Belarus are beginning to realize that a unilateral policy could not bring about good results, especially in the geopolitical situation of Belarus. If this turn is a sign of changes in Belarus, thanks to this realization Belarus in some measure could take a democracy tack”, the Prime Minister said in an interview to a Lithuanian radio station Ziniu radijas.
Answering the question whether the dialogue of the Lithuanian authorities with Alyaksandr Lukashenka is possible, Gediminas Kirkilas said: “I think it is possible to make such attempts. Any changes in Belarus towards democracy, if managed to be done peacefully, via negotiations and agreements, would be positive”.
Mr Kirkilas added that “Belarus is our neighbour, we have vast economic relations, many other bilateral affairs, and the border between Belarus and Lithuania is one of the most impotent eastern lines of the EU, especially concerning our joining the Schengen agreement,” Interfax informs.
Last Tuesday Lukashenka stated that Minsk always wanted to mend relations with the West and admitted that single-vector policy was a mistake. “I admit a mistake and a drawback of the foreign policy, it was a one-vector policy, with a vector directed towards Russia,” Lukashenka said in an interview to the Reuters.
As said by the Belarusian ruler, as a result of this policy “in fact we have lost the West”. “We were standing on one leg, and we should stand on two legs. We are between the West and Russia. We are the bridge between Russia and the West,” he added. Lukashenka has accused the Russian Federation of imperial ambitions. Russia is ready to cooperate with Minsk only as with a junior partner.
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