Fears of EU split as «last dictator» of Belarus is invited to summit

An attempt by Europe to bring its "last dictator" in from the cold by inviting Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarussian president, to a summit of 27 EU government leaders could backfire by aggravating EU divisions, it was feared yesterday.

Many European leaders are hoping that Lukashenko - who has been in power for 15 years, has been blacklisted by Brussels on account of his authoritarian rule and was until recently subject to a travel ban - will not take up the invitation to the Prague summit on 7 May.

The summit is to launch the EU's new "eastern partnership" policy with six former Soviet bloc states, aimed at increasing Brussels' clout in the region at the expense of Moscow's.

Lukashenko, head of the most isolated state in Europe, has been invited together with the leaders of Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. The Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, delivered the invitation in person to Belarus's president in Minsk on Friday.

Given Lukashenko's dismal human rights record, repression of the media and opposition, election rigging and the "disappearing" of opponents, the Prague invitation is stirring protest and has reignited arguments about whether it is better to isolate or engage unsavoury leaders.

"How can you invite a dictator who remains a dictator?" asked Andrei Sannikov, a Belarussian opposition leader and former deputy foreign minister. "It's the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Prague and to have Lukashenko there is a slap in the face."

"It is clear that if Lukashenko comes to Prague it will be a big problem," said one EU ambassador in Brussels. "There are some member states with real concerns."

But a senior Polish official said: "If Belarus is in the eastern partnership, you need to invite Lukashenko. There's no point talking to anyone else."

European leaders such as Gordon Brown, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, may find themselves metaphorically holding their noses if the former communist collective farmer takes his place alongside them in Prague.

In European capitals elaborate plans are already being hatched to try to avoid being spotted shaking hands or being photographed with the leader the US state department has dubbed Europe's last dictator and whose ubiquitous security service still proudly calls itself the KGB.

The policy being launched in Prague is an attempt to use trade, travel and aid to forge greater integration between the EU and the former Soviet bloc states, while at the same time aiming to fob off the clamour from countries such as Ukraine and Georgia for full EU membership and seeking to counter Russian influence in what the Kremlin calls its "near abroad".

"The message is that the EU is willing to engage with these countries, but not without conditions and caveats," said an EU diplomat. "We want to reach out in pursuit of our own interests. The pull of Russia there is part of the problem. If we don't engage, we won't be able to advance our own interests and we'll push them back into [Vladimir] Putin's orbit."

The decision to invite Lukashenko has been preceded by months of intensive debate among EU governments over how to treat Europe's sole pariah president. Lukashenko and dozens of regime cronies were placed on an EU travel blacklist for rigging elections in 2006, but the entry ban was suspended for the second time last month, meaning that he is free to take up the invitation to Prague.

The Dutch and the Swedes have been the biggest opponents of inviting Lukashenko, while the Germans, Poles and Italians have been strongest in arguing for engaging Minsk. Lukashenko will score a new coup later this month by exploiting the lifting of the travel ban and going to Rome, where he is to be received by the Pope.

"My understanding is he's not going to come to the summit," said the Brussels diplomat, reflecting the widespread wish that Lukashenko stay away to avoid embarrassment for all.

"Let's hope the question will not arise. We don't like what we see in Belarus," said the ambassador. Another west European diplomat did not rule out some boycotts of the Prague summit if the Belarus leader confirms his attendance.