Andrei Sannikov: The European Union would like to see when the definite relationship between the opposition and authorities starts :: Charter'97 :: News

“Representative of the European Union pays special attention to the European March preparation .Information on the March as well as on the dialogue with the authorities suggested by the democratic forces has been considered by the European Union representatives as a very important event in the life of Belarus. Certainly they will follow the authorities’ responses to the preparation for the march and they would like to see when the definite relationship between the opposition and authorities starts”, international coordinator of the Charter’97, former deputy foreign minister of Belarus Andrei Sannikov declared after coming back from the annual Economic Forum held in Polish town Krinitsa. Economic Forum brought together 3000 representatives from more than 60 countries – including European commissioners, presidents, outstanding policymakers (among them former presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland Vatslav Gavel and Aleksandr Kwasnevsky), prime ministers, governmental and parliamentary delegations, NGO’s representatives, experts and political figures, journalists, economic and cultural leaders.

-Mr.Sannikov, how important and influential is the Forum in Krinitsa?

-The Annual Economic Forum in Krinista is the great international event which is truly called the Eastern European Davos. It brings together outstanding policymakers, analysts, experts, businessmen .As in Davos the Forum in Krinitsa opens possibilities not only to official speeches and discussions but to informal communication that is very important for discussion of international issues and for their decision-making.

-Was the situation in Belarus discussed at the Forum?

As far as the situation in Belarus is concerned this year it was possible to notice the changes in the format of discussion. The fairly representative Russian delegation of policymakers, analysts, experts, businessmen was present at the Forum. They participated in different sessions and expressed their viewpoints on all the issues of the international policy. But unlike at previous conferences this time the Russian representatives almost didn’t mention Belarus. If previously one way or another they spoke in defense of Lukashenka and political system of Belarus, this time they didn’t respond even to the sharp remarks on the similarity of the power systems of Russia and Belarus.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Europe manifested their true interest in discussing the situation in Belarus and possible variants of its development. The representative of the European Union remarked at the section for Belarus that at the recent conference deputy foreign minister of Belarus Varanetsky made very interesting propositions which could have attracted both the European policymakers and businessmen. He also stressed: today all 27 member states of the European Union are unanimous in their assessments of Belarus. For instance, the European Union can’t seriously treat the propositions of the official representative of Belarus at the background of continuous repressions, growing number of political prisoners, absence of the essential human liberties and rights in Belarus. By the way, Varanetsky was awaited in Krinitsa for continuation of the talks but for the unknown reasons he didn’t come there. Such behavior of the Belarusian authorities seems rather strange. As if a person interrupted himself in the middle of the phrase and ran away.

-How can you explain the Russian delegation’s behavior at the Forum?

- The games in fraternal relations of Russia and Belarus are likely to have become so empty and groundless that Russia now is reluctant to make any remarks on the Belarusian situation not to make a fool of itself. And taking into account the problems with democracy in Russia itself the open support of Lukashenka might have appeared simply ridiculous. Certainly it concerns the official representatives of Russia but the representatives of the civil society, creative people were displaying their interest in the situation and spoke in support of the democratic forces.

-Whom did you meet at the Forum with?

-I had meetings with representatives of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, experts from Russia and Europe, public figures, Andrian Severin, former UNO Special Rapporteur for Belarus being among them. He gave his comment on the decision on deleting Belarus from the list of countries which need the UNO Special Rapporteur for human rights. Severin said that he is unaware to which extent the Belarusian authorities might be satisfied with such decision-making because the position of the UNO Special Rapporteur was canceled but the report which he had made remained in force. And all the conclusions on the human rights violations didn’t stop being current and the work at them will continue. Thus, the Belarusian authorities having lost the UNO Special Rapporteur became deprived of the opportunity to influence directly the content of the report on the situation in Belarus.

-What is the attitude to the idea of the European March to be held in Belarus 14 October in Europe?

-The European Union representatives are following closely the preparation to the European March. The information on its holding as well as on the dialogue with the authorities proposed by the democratic forces is being considered by the European Union representatives as a very important event in the life of Belarus. They will certainly follow the authorities’ response to the march preparation and they would like to see when the definite relationship between the opposition and authorities starts.