Karen Stewart: «We must see actions, not only words»

The Belarusian opposition and European politicians have been attempting to start a dialogue with the state authorities in the country for more than half a year already. Representatives of the Belarusian opposition as well as Polish, German and American politicians took part in a meeting of intellectuals and politicians which was held in Krakow. US Ambassador Karen Stewart assisted the meeting too.

The Ambassador replied to several questions of the Polish Radio:

- Ms Ambassador, have you noticed any political changes in Belarus within the last half a year? It was within this time that the dialogue issue became the key point in the relations between the European Union and Belarus.

- We saw certain signs of changes in April and May when the powers released three political prisoners before their sentence was over. At the same time two major demonstrations were allowed. That gave us hope, but then everything became as it used to be: the authorities refused to release other political prisoners - they kept on arresting opposition activists. So the official position hasn’t changed. As for the opposition, I am optimistic about this - they cooperate and elaborate an economic platform which can be accepted by the society.

- There were no representatives of the official authorities at the meeting in Krakow. Don’t you think it is a mistake to discuss a dialogue without one part?

- The results of such conferences are reported by various Mass Media. So both the authorities and the public will be informed on what we have discussed here. We can sit together only after we see the authorities showing political will to launch democratic reforms. We must see actions, not only words, before we can embark on negotiations. That is why we demand to release political prisoners. And then we will be able to start a dialogue.

- Europe has presented 12 issues for Belarus to fulfill, which would help the country and would improve the state of the society. What impact can the USA have on Belarus?

- We shall keep on with what we’ve been doing so far. I mean the programs on support for independent media, exchange programs, support for non-governmental organizations. But this is the Belarusian nation itself who is to make changes in the country. The Belarusian must choose the future of their country. We shall uphold them and do our utmost.