Linas Antanas Linkevičius: The Claims Have Not Been Lifted From The Belarusian Regime

The EU expects from the Belarusian authorities actions, not just merely empty talks.

This was stated by the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius during the interview with a correspondent of charter97.org in Vilnius.

According to him, Belarus has now obtained a chance. However, if there are only mere talks about reforms without any actions, corresponding conclusions will be drawn.

He also noted that the Astrovets nuclear power plant - is not a bilateral problem in relations of Lithuania and Belarus, but the problem of a much broader scale.

- Sanctions are lifted; also, as we know, Alexander Lukashenko visited Italy and met with the Pope this week. Can it be considered as an acceptance of the dictatorship? How does the EU look at Belarus now? What position does Lithuania take on this matter?

- Nobody is talking here about any acceptance or rejection. The point is relations and certain measures that have been applied. All Belarusian political prisoners have been released, so the sanctions have been lifted. Nevertheless, no one lifted any expectations, requirements or criteria, and we must adhere to such a policy in relation to other countries, such as Russia. Standards should be universal.

Belarus should take this chance and use this period to build the constructive relations that would benefit both Belarus and the entire region and would allow a move forward even on those topics that have never been addressed before. I wish to indicate that after the EU summit, Lithuania's Presidency of the EU Council started making concrete steps – here we are talking about easing of the visa regime and the dialogue about the modernization, which did not take place before.

We would like changes to be positive. Although the results are not exactly the same as we wished, the direction is the right one, and we definitely do not want to turn back.

I would also like to mention that this spring there have been some attempts to implement certain measures. Belarus hosted the United Nations conference on the issue of the death penalty; in April, there was the first meeting of the coordination working group of Belarus and the EU; in June, a dialogue on the human rights will be held, etc. However, at the same time, there are many serious problems. Some of them are considered as bilateral issues of Lithuania and Belarus; however, I am sure that they are regional and of a much wider scale. The example of such a regional problem is the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. However, on this issue, we do not see any progress but only conversations and intentions. In fact, we want to see the real results, and there will be no compromise or indulgence in that respect.

- One of the questions to Belarus – is its reforms. In your opinion, can the actions of the Belarusian authorities be called as reforms?

- We can call them reforms when we see the results. The fact that they are discussed does not make them actual reforms yet. Recognition of the problem is not a reform either. Only real result can prove that there is a genuine desire to change something. Conversely, if there are only talks without any results, appropriate conclusions will be drawn.

- What concerns does Lithuania have about the Astrovets atomic power station?

- Let us start with the fact that its construction began with the violation of international norms. Construction actually began seven years ago, and the site was chosen for unclear criteria. According to international principles, site must be selected according to the special technologies and certain mechanisms. Even the IAEA has a dedicated team of experts who examines the site selection criteria. Hence, even the very beginning of the construction was not appropriate.

Neither was the environmental impact examined according to international principles. As things stand now, it is dangerous to start the construction. Therefore, we argue that there should be no nuclear plant at all; however, in case if it is already being built, it should conform to international standards without any compromises. So, I am reminding about some of them. And I can do it again.

After the incident at the atomic power station construction, we wrote that we would demand Belarus to change its position and agree with the recommendations of the UN Committee on the establishment of an international expert group that would investigate the actions associated with the construction. Another point is the preparation of the site - these criteria must be considered with the IAEA Commission. Stress tests must be carried out with the participation of the European experts. If there is no expert participation, it will be difficult to rely on any results.

We received a response that they promise to explore the site and carry out these tests until the end of the year. Therefore, we will carefully monitor the situation. Moreover, the European Commission will be engaged in monitoring the situation, as this plant is one of the most important issues on a European scale. Hence, this problem concerns not only the two of us, and not only the region, but a much wider scale, since the object is extremely sensitive and can be very dangerous. The construction should be carried out very accurately and without any violations.

- Astrovets atomic power station could be considered as an issue of the security. However, there are also other aspects of security, such as military cooperation between Belarus and Russia. How does Lithuania look at this cooperation?

- Countries are free to choose their partners in cooperation, integration, as well as the depth and scope of the cooperation. The question is - what are their goals? When we hear that some things happen in response to the “aggressive” NATO behaviour, we can hardly understand such situation.

Recently we heard the statements that appropriate action will be taken in response to the missile defence elements in Romania. These elements are defensive and are aimed at protection against missiles that could be launched by, for example, unstable, uncontrollable forces. Such retaliatory action against NATO and cooperation itself look pretty strange.

We always hope that there will not be any confrontation, because the Alliance - is a defensive rather than offensive mechanism. The Alliance does not intend to attack anyone, but it certainly will do everything necessary to ensure safety of its territory and citizens. This should not cause any doubts.

- How do you assess security of the region at the moment?

- The region must be sufficiently secured according to the NATO treaty. Headquarters of NATO, governments and states should provide security allocating their funds on it. We are always quite openly discussing these issues; all problems and weaknesses are known. I think we are successfully preparing for the NATO summit in Warsaw, a large number of positions and parameters will be improved. We can say that there is no limit to perfection; on the other hand, when weaknesses and challenges are known, any situation can be solved. Alliance not only declares, but also takes over the obligation to guarantee the security on its territory. It will carry out its obligations.

- What is the current situation with the Suwalki corridor?

- This is one of the weak points. A recent study observed that the Baltic countries have 1,400 kilometres of border with Russia and Belarus, quite integrated countries, particularly in the field of the national security. At the same time, we have a 65-km gate for communication with the Allies. This is a bottleneck and one of the places that we should pay practical attention to. NATO is familiar with this problem and intends to react to it adequately.

- How do you assess the prospects of Belarus in the Eastern Partnership?

- All six Eastern Partnership countries are quite different. They are different not only with regard to the situation, but also with regard to the set goals. Three of them - Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova - did not hide their desire to get closer to the EU. Azerbaijan and Armenia are sometimes fighting with each other, but this is a specific situation. However, Armenia and Belarus do not hide their intensions towards the Eurasian Union.

The countries are very different and are in different situations, but each of them has certain interest in dialogue with the EU. The EU respectfully looks at it and builds its policy accordingly. Hence, there are some prospects. Intensity and depth of cooperation depend on the choice of these countries. Partner countries will choose how deeply and intensively they want to cooperate with the EU, and the EU will take this into account.

- And the last question, how many Lithuanian goods got to Russia through Belarus?

- I do not have such statistics; I cannot answer precisely to this question. I believe some amount of goods could get there, but I find it difficult to talk about it.