Irina Gerashchenko: Belarus Plays Up To Kremlin

Minsk cannot be neutral on the Donbass issue, if it takes decisions in favor of Moscow.

The refusal of Belarus to vote for the resolution on the Crimea outraged Verkhovna Rada vice-speaker Irina Gerashchenko, who doubted the intention of Belarus to have a neutral status in the settlement of the situation in the Donbass. She wrote about this on her Facebook page, segodnya.ua reports.

She explained why some countries vote against the resolution on Ukraine.

"The analysis of voting on resolutions on the Crimea is always very interesting. Romania voted 'for.' Whatever our discussions on certain sensitive topics (like the law "On Education"), the EU countries always take a common position in key issues related to human rights and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. Many African and Latin American countries voted against or abstained because Moscow has been in special relations with these countries since the USSR times – many of the top leaders of these countries graduated from Russian universities. So, since the days of Soviet financial aid these third world countries look in the direction of the Kremlin out of habit. Due to certain specific issues some countries (for example, Tibet) have traditionally never voted for resolutions relating to human rights. Rather, they vote against them," –Gerashchenko wrote.

The vice-speaker condemned Belarus for playing up to the Kremlin on the Crimean resolution.

"But it's more complicated with Belarus and Kazakhstan. They refer to the union treaty with the Russian Federation, which obliges them to take a common position on different issues in international organizations. But the situation with Belarus, however, is more piquant – it is in Minsk that negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donbass are held, the country claims to be neutral and is eager to perform a certain peacekeeping mission. The status of neutrality, and not the playing up to the Kremlin, should be maintained during all polls.

I will keep voicing this position and I consider such Belarus' votes – precisely in the context of their claims to perform the peacekeeping mission – to be incorrect," – the politician stressed.

Gerashchenko added that some CIS countries had the courage not to vote, their representatives just left the hall.

"This is already a step away from Moscow, in the right direction, towards their real independence," – she noted.