Syarhei Skrabets: Maybe European Commissioner Hahn does not know about political prisoners?

Belarus’ participation in “Eastern Partnership” is hampered not only by official Minsk and the European Union, but by Russia as well.

Any attempt of real rapprochement with the European Union is to end in Ukrainian scenario, believes the Secretary General of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada) Syarhei Skrabets, Belaruskaya Prauda reports.

A working visit to Minsk of the European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn is taking place on April 16-17. The European Commissioner is to meet with the Belarusian leadership, planning to discuss interaction of Belarus and the EU and implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative.

Syarhei Skrabets in his interview to Belaruskaya prauda voiced his failure to understand how it could be possible under the existing circumstances to talk to Belarusian authorities about enhancing of good-neighbourliness.

- Mr Hahn was appointed a European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations last November. He could be unaware of the fact that political prisoners are kept behind the bars in Belarus, that human rights are violated here, the oppositional press is persecuted. And he has arrived to establish contacts and relations of good-neighbourliness, which leaves oppositionists at least perplexed.

It should be understood that Belarus’ participation in Eastern Partnership is blocked not only by the European Union and Belarus itself, but it is blocked by Russia. Let’s look back at the events of the recent years. As soon as Bakiyev decided to leave the NATO military base in Manas, he was evicted from the seat of the president; as soon as Georgia decided to join the NATO and the EU, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were broken from it; as soon as Ukraine decided they want association with the European Union – Yanukovych lost his position, and Ukraine lost two regions. If the logical chain is continued, we should realize that we should pay with Vitsebsk and Mahilyou regions for the desire of rapprochement with the European Union.

So it is not clear what kind of good neighbourhood policy could be discussed with the current regime under the present circumstances. Moreover, Europe has turned a blind eye to the issue of political prisoners. Everything is good: let’s widen cooperation, strengthen good neighbourly relations.

One cannot take a figure of Hahn seriously: the fact itself that the authorities have allowed him to enter the territory of Belarus, is raising many questions.

- Does it mean that any real rapprochement of Belarus with the European Union is to end in the Ukrainian scenario?

- In Ukrainian, Georgian, Moldovan or Kyrgyz scenario. There are lots of examples – one can choose any of them: either a loss of land or a loss of power.

- And why European envoys have become frequent guests in Belarus then?

- Rather serious investments are going to Belarus: from Germany, France, the Czech Republic. European commissioners visit Belarus in order to defend European investments. The Realpolitik remains as popular as before and has not been revised by anyone.