German mass media reminded how meetings with Belarusian dictator end

Repressions and total lawlessness are increasing in Belarus, mass media of Germany note.

For the first time since 1995 a member of German government arrived to Belarus on an official visit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes. Guido Westerwelle had visited Minsk with his Polish colleague Radoslaw Sikorski, and during the meeting with Alyaksandr Lukashenka insisted to holding free and fair election, which is planned on December 19.

The election in December is to become a litmus test for your commitment for democracy, the minister said, addressing the ruler who retains power since 1994. “We have never had undemocratic elections,” Lukashenka parried, offering Westerwelle to count votes himself.

The last visit of the high-ranking German official in 1995 had a zero result, notes the author of the article Reinhard Wieser. “In a year Lukashenka literally excluded the parliament from the political life of the country, providing himself with wide powers, and organizing brutal crackdown on opposition protests. The EU adopted a decision to limit top-level contacts to the maximum.”

Deutshe Welle informs that the heads of German and Polish Foreign Ministries have met with the leaders of the Belarusian opposition.

One of the participants of the meeting with Westerwelle and Sikorski, a possible presidential candidate, the leader of “European Belarus” civil campaign Andrei Sannikov believes that the conversation was very important. According to the politician, the fact that the heads of German and Polish Foreign Ministries listened to all opponents of the regime at the meeting, was the wise step.

“They listened to us, our concerns about the attempts to make an impression of liberalization in the country, while in reality we have political prisoners, opposition has no access to mass media, especially the ones controlled by the state, there is no freedom of the press, there is no freedom of assembly; some articles of the Criminal Code ban activities on behalf of unregistered organizations, that is, we expressed all our concerns,” Andrei Sannikov stressed.

The politician believes that the moment has come when real changes are possible in Belarus, and Europe can play a significant role in this process, as it has many levers now, especially after the enlargement of the EU. As said by Sannikov, the trade turnover with Europe is higher than with Russia, that is, Europe had become a more important partner for Belarus.

Besides, Europe can honestly evaluate the situation and act depending on this situation. The fact that assistance is being offered, including material aid, is a serious lever, “European Belarus” leader said. “But there should follow an explanation that this assistance would not be granted without democratization,” Andrei Sannikov underlined.