Europe Put Lukashenka On Heels

The West has not believed the dictator’s tales.

The recently restored dialogue between Belarus and the EU can be suspended. The recent tough actions of the Belarusian authorities against peaceful demonstrators have become the stumbling block. The Belarusian ruler got the things out in the open, speaking with his "appeal to the people and parliament," Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s correspondent Anton Khadasevich writes.

"Are we really coming back to where we started?" – Aliaksandr Lukashenka lamented, speaking of the current state of the Belarusian-European relations. He admitted that the recently revived "dialogue" had been hampered again by the European officials’ negative assessment of the Belarusian authorities’ actions during the peaceful demonstration on March 25 and the eve of this event. "Stop reproving us – "you have applied some kind of excessive force," – Lukashenka told about the EU reaction to the Belarusian events. We remind that human rights defenders counted about a thousand detainees then. During the opposition rally, people were taken up regardless of age and purpose of staying in the city center, beaten up and roughly thrown into the so-called paddy wagons – cells on wheels produced by MAZ.

According to Lukashenka, Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei is no longer received with open arms in Europe after these events. "Makei is already afraid to go to you. He has already dried up. No matter when he comes, he is told about the excessive force," – the dictator reveled.

Previously, the media repeatedly wrote about the "dialogue" between Minsk and Brussels, saying that, although it was in progress, as it was seen from the number of European officials’ visits to Minsk, its content remained unknown to the public. The parties, including the Belarusian one, refrained from making specific statements. By the way, Lukashenka's speechwriters recommended him to do the same thing this time. He read from the "paper" that it was "vital for Belarus to make significant progress in achieving full-fledged cooperation in all the areas" with the European Union this year, that he was very grateful to the EU for the abolition of restrictive measures and the" development of various bilateral instruments for the political dialogue." But then Lukashenka could not stand it, departed from the written report and gave vent to emotions. As a rule, the Belarusian leader speaks so harshly, rudely and emotionally when the discussion of a certain issue comes to a standstill. So it was in relations with Russia, when during the oil and gas conflict, he not only refused to sign the Customs Code, but also did not go to the Council of the EAEC and warned that he would withdraw his representatives from the Eurasian structures.

Apparently, the relations with the EU are now stalling. What is revealing, that it only concerns the relations with Europe. Lukashenka has no complaints against the United States. "Today we talk and listen to each other," – he estimated the level of bilateral cooperation with this country.

It is likely that in this situation, the negotiations with the IMF, which already appear to be difficult, will become even worse. Lukashenka "uncovered some secrets" of the dialogue with this structure. The official Minsk is not ready to get rid of the cross-subsidization in the economy in the next year and a half, as required by the IMF, since this will lead to the increase in the cost of tariffs for housing utility services for the population. "We cannot make a 100% payment for housing and communal services in one year and a half, because there will be huge non-payments and this will destabilize the situation in the society," – the dictator explained. According to him, IMF experts agree to increase the term up to 4-5 years. Minsk refuses to reform the public sector, the inefficiency of which is already a threat both to the economy and the banking sector. Earlier the point at issue was that state enterprises would be sorted according to the principle of "save", "bankrupt", "sell". For the rest, the rules of work would be established, they would be given economic independence and taken out of the direct management of the sectoral ministries and transferred to the submission of the State Property Committee. "This is an accounting office," – Lukashenka characterized the department and said that it was not able to run the enterprises.

According to experts, the fund will not like some other ruler’s statements on the economic policy. He said that there would be no liberalization there, and ordered the Minister of Trade and Antimonopoly Regulation to return to the previous practice of pricing regulation.

Judging by Lukashenka’s words, Europe did not believe in the idea created by Belarusian propagandists that recent detentions and beatings were caused by the threat of destabilization from the outside. However, it did not stop the Belarusian ruler from recalling it in his message: "People with ammunition, with guns are wending their way into the country from all the sides."

The local monitors and human rights activists believe that this explanation is unconvincing, because there is no evidence to support it. For example, the story about a car with weapon, which was breaking through from Ukraine, has never acquired any continuation, and the Belarusian border guards actually refused it under the pressure of the Ukrainian side. So far, the authorities have failed to prove that the children's camp near Babruisk was training "militants", as well as there has been no evidence of the existence of such "camps" in Poland and Lithuania. "Lukashenka has received a heavy moral and psychological trauma," – political scientist Valery Karbalevich says about the dictator's reaction to March social protests against the decline in the standard of living and the authorities’ economic policy.