Vital Rymasheuski: Dialogue between EU and authorities leads to conservation of regime and growth of repression

Talking with the authorities without civil society means to ignore people.

The statement was made by Vital Rymasheuski, a co-head of the organising committee to form the Belarusian Christian Democracy party (BCD). In an interview with Radio Racyja he spoke negatively about the EU-Belarus talks in Brussels.

“Political opposition, civil society and human rights groups are the only subjects that can control, in some way or another, the Belarusian authorities. Talking with the Belarusian authorities without civil society means to ignore the people of Belarus. If such talks turn into a secret non-transparent dialogue with the Lukashenka regime, they will lead to the conversation of the current regime, the deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus and the growth of repression,” the politician noted.

Changes for the better are possible only if opposition and civil society control the authorities, Rymasheuski is confident. Otherwise, the non-transparent dialogue between the EU and the Belarusian authorities will become an imitation process and will lead to the azerbaijanisation of the situation in Belarus.

The BCD leader thinks it is necessary to return to a trilateral format of the dialogue.

Deputy foreign minister Alena Kupchyna visited Brussels on March 8-10. The aim of the visit was the participation in another round of consultations on the “modernisation” issues between Belarus and the European Union. The relations between Belarus and the Council of Europe were discussed in Minsk on March 11.