Uta Zapf’s "Exciting Event" :: Charter'97 :: News

A seminar “Exploring the opportunities for Belarus within the European Neighbourhood Policy” is to take place on March 15 under the chairmanship of a vice speaker of the lower chamber of illegitimate Belarusian “parliament” Syarhei Zabalotets and the head of the PA OSCE working group on Belarus Uta Zapf. Deputies of the “chamber of representatives” and officials of the Foreign Ministry are to take part in the seminar. MPs from Poland, Ukraine, representatives of the European Commission and “carefully selected” public activists have announced intention to take part in the seminar. By the way, according to the programme, the latter are not given a voice at the seminar at all. This strange event has been enthusiastically called by Uta Zapf “a very exciting event”, which means “a beginning of a dialogue between all public forces in Belarus and Europeans”. The Charter’97 press-center has asked Andrei Sannikov, a formder deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, an international coordinator of the Charter’97, to comment on the new initiatives of Uta Zapf, which are not completely understandable.

“The seminar “Exploring the opportunities for Belarus within the European Neighbourhood Policy” in the format prepared by Uta Zapf, the head of the PA OSCE Working group on Belarus, and representatives of the regime, has nothing in common with the desire of the democratic forces of Belarus and of European politicians to achieve changes in the country. Mrs. Zapf has called a “success” merely the fact of holding this seminar, forgetting that Lukashenka’s regime hasn’t made any steps, even smallest ones, in fulfilling any conditions offered by the EU. The seminar has been prepared in secret from the democratic forces of Belarus; its format has been agreed with representatives of the regime only. Representatives of the opposition, whose participation had been agreed with the regime as well, have been confronted with an accomplished fact, by offering them to support a propagandistic event by their presence. The head of the PA OSCE Working group on Belarus perfectly know the situation in Belarus; she knows that after the delegation of the “chamber” was granted a status in the PA OSCE with her support, changes in Belarus were only negative. The number of political prisoners is growing, the independent press has been almost eradicated, civil and political rights are violated, pressure on trade unions, public organizations, parties is exerted, more and more administrative restrictions in the economy are being imposed.

At the same time in connection with the necessity to provide an economic and energy security of independent Belarus, the today’s situation gives a chance to take a new glance at the opportunities of the country’s democratization. That is why the democratic forces are discussing a possibility of a dialogue with the regime to defend independence and to democratize the political system of Belarus. Only after a serious discussion of development prospects inside Belarus one could become a serious partner of Europe in the whole range of topics.

Mrs. Zapf offered a completely different strategy, which has nothing in common with a possible dialogue between the regime and the opposition. This seminar planned for tomorrow serves to reinforcement of the existing regime, and not to Belarus’ democratization. How such events could be held at all, when political prisoners are kept in Belarusian prisons, when the authorities defiantly arrest Vyachorka and Siuchyk on the eve of Zapf’s visit, when repressions against the Belarusian youth continue. If the members of the PA OSC Working group on Belarus are really interested in Belarus’ democratic development, they could be suggested coming to Minsk on March 25 to evaluate a real, not propagandistic readiness of the regime for democratic reforms.