Estonian parliamentarians met with representatives of Belarusian opposition

Estonia is interested in developing relations with European Belarus.

Coordinators of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Zmitser Bandarenka and Uladzimir Kobets met with deputy chairman of the faction of the largest oppositional party in the Estonian parliament, Estonian Centre Party, Vladimir Velman, and a deputy of the ruling coalition in the parliament, the People's Union of Estonia representative, Mart Nutt.

“Estonian parliamentarians were interested by the situation in Belarus in general, and in particular, our opinion about liberalization in our country. Is this liberalization indeed carried out, or is it just an imitation? We noted that there is no liberalization in Belarus, and that even a day before the arrival of the Estonian parliamentarians’ delegation to Belarus new political prisoners emerged in Belarus. We told about the latest arrests and trials over opposition activists, and undoubtedly raised the issue of the hunger strike of political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich, who is on hunger strike for 85 days, and whose life is endangered, one of the participants of the meeting Zmitser Bandarenka said in an interview to www.charter97.org website.

As said by the coordinator of the “European Belarus” at the meeting with deputies of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu), he and Uladzimir Kobets noted that liberalization are not taking place in Belarus even in the sphere of economy. Recently not only repressions against opposition have intensified, but against businessmen and CEOs of plants as well. When people are arrested on a mass level, or thrown into prisons, and released only when they pay a certain sum for their release, that do not contribute to emancipation of entrepreneurship,” Bandarenka said.

As a result, Estonian deputies told to Belarusian oppositional politicians that at the meetings with representatives of the authorities they raised an issue of necessity of democratic reforms in Belarus, creating of normal conditions for activities of the civil society and about the necessity of a real dialogue inside the country between the regime and the opposition.

“We answered that the Belarusian democratic forces many times offered the regime to start this dialogue, but we were met by nothing except obscene language and new political repressions from the side of the authorities.

Estonian parliamentarians underlined that a meeting with us as representatives of the opposition are as important to them as a meeting with the government officials. Estonia is a European democratic country, which considers Belarus a European country as well, and certainly is interested in expanding contacts, increase of trade and economic cooperation between our countries. An example of such interest would be opening of the Estonian Embassy in Minsk in the near future. However, Vladimir Velman and Mart Nutt underlined that relations between Estonia and Belarus could be much more productive if our country would really chose the path of democratic development,” Zmitser Bandarenka said.