European Commission: Belarus doesn’t show any signs of democratization

Bruno Dethomas, Head of Eastern Partnership Task Force, criticized the situation in Belarus.

Bruno Dethomas told in an interview to Polskie Radio that Belarus’s participation in European Partnership programme reduced only to multilateral cooperation, which got insufficient financing. “I’d like to emphasize that 90% of EPP’s budget is spent on bilateral cooperation. So, Belarus is unable to take the place it deserves. The reason is that the political situation in Belarus doesn’t comply with the standards of democracy and human rights,” the European Commission representative noted.

“Belarus does not show any signs of democratization. If Belarus stopped practicing death penalty, if Belarus was more open for civil society and independent media, the cooperation would demonstrate more rapid pace. But country sill has the law on the Internet that is not what a European country can dream about,” Bruno Dethomas said.

Speaking about the forthcoming presidential election in Belarus, the politician said: “Election observation will be performed by the OSCE. It is this organization that tells us how we should estimate the election process. Free mass media is a vital element of democracy. The EU Council will have to give estimation of every progress in democracy and lack of progress. The European Commission prepared a provisional agreement with Belarus. We are ready for active cooperation. Belarus is undoubtedly a European country. But it is the Belarusian authorities who have the ball today,” the head of Eastern Partnership Task Force said.