Ažubalis: During war in Georgia Lukashenka refused overflight to a plane with EU leaders

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania urges not to believe the Belarusian dictator.

Audronius Ažubalis told about that during his speech at a press-conference in Vilnius, dedicated Freedom Day, as reported by a journalist of charter97.org.

The former Foreign Affairs of Lithuania noted that it is hard to recall how many times he had taken part in similar events, “speaking the right words, undersigning right resolutions, after which nothing changed.”

“Neither the Belarusian opposition nor the Belarusian dictator himself are to blame for that in the first place. It’s his nature, he is a dictator as long as he is allowed to act this way. Probably, the major part of blame for that rests with us, with those who are used to democracy, human rights, but are acting pragmatically in this or that situation. And that legalizes existence of such a regime,” Audronius Ažubalis believes.

The crisis of relations between the West and Russia is deepening. At the same time, as said by the former minister, Alyaksandr Lukashenka finds a room for manoeuvre in this situation, taking the advantage of the current state of affairs brilliantly.

“Minsk has become a site for Ukraine-Russia talks. As said by one of journalists, Lukashenka’s mediation means serving tea, but there is a certain message for his home audience: here and now we are number one spot of Europe, the major players are gathering here in order to stop the war in Ukraine.”

On these circumstances, as said by Audronius Ažubalis, representatives of the West are in the position “of the third brother.”

“It is clear that the EU has not recovered itself from the state of shock after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the blooming of authoritarianism, political prisoners, systematic disregard of human rights, censorship of mass media seem insignificant to it in such a state – six persons are kept behind the bars in Belarus, while people are being killed in Donbas,” he said.

On the other hand, according to the former minister, benevolence of some Europeans towards Belarus has a reason behind it: “It is not just a manifestation of naivety of some politicians, but a consequence of pragmatic interests.”

“This or that state is flirting with the regime in hope that certain cargoes from Belarus would be transported via ports belonging to them, that cargoes could be transported not through Klaipeda, but a little bit further north. Unfortunately, Lukashenka can count money, every Euro and every dollar,” he stressed.

The recent present to official Minsk, as said by Audronius Ažubalis is visa regime.

“A number of European states and Latvia, which is presiding in the EU, have an intention to offer a new present to the Belarusian authorities in the run-up to the “presidential election”: to help them to sell such an achievement as a visa-free regime,” the former minister noted. He also reminded that Lithuania started the discussion on relaxing visa requirements in 2010, and two years after that Brussels officially addressed the Belarusian authorities with a proposal to start talks on simplified visa regime.

“It is clear that it was not of the moment for them (the Belarusian government – charter97.org) then. “The election” of the president was over, all opponents were imprisoned, so they had no desire at all. And while a new “election” is most likely to take place in October, it is to become a good present for Lukashenka,” the Lithuanian politician believes. Audronius Ažubalis says such behavior of Europeans is not shrewd.

Speaking about easing of some requirements for the Belarusian regime, he also reminded of the so-called “thaw” in the relations with Belarus in 2008, when the war of Russia with Georgia started. The politician told about an interesting fact: in the critical moment, when presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia passed a decision to fly to Tbilisi and to express solidarity, the answer of official Minsk was simple: “If you are going to fly to Georgia, the Belarusian air space will be closed for you.”

“It should be had in mind when speaking about “warming up” of the relations. It shows what kind of person Lukashenka is, and what kind of nature he has,” the politician said.

Audronius Ažubalis reminded about the Near-border traffic between Belarus and Lithuania. Then, in 2010 he and Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė arrived on a visit to Minsk, hoping that they would be able to open a new page in the relations. The Small Near-border Traffic agreement was signed. “I signed the agreement with my colleague Syarhei Martynau then, it was ratified by Lithuanian Seimas in half a year, but it has not come into force up to now. It is not beneficial for Lukashenka, who had used it successfully in the run-up to the “election,” the politician says.

“Attempts should always be made, but one should have no illusions,” he emphasized.

The former minister also reminded about the words of the Russian oppositional politician Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in Moscow in the end of February. A year ago he said: “The worst thing which could happen, and what Russia is approaching, is Lukashenka’s system.” “In this way Nemtsov admitted that the situation in Belarus is much worse than in Russia itself,” Audronius Ažubalis said. “That is why when one sees that some leaders of the EU want to see Lukashenka as their ally, one understands what absurdity could exist in the political reality.”