EU bids to promote democracy in Belarus

Date: 08/07/1999

By Simon Taylor

AS THE international community waits expectantly for a new era of peace and stability in Serbia with the toppling of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, hopes of greater democracy in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus remain dim.

EU governments are looking to 20 July - the date when President Alexander Lukashenko's term of office comes to an end under the terms of the country's old constitution - for a sign that the autocratic leader is loosening his grip on power in the 10-million strong republic. But the Belarussian leader is refusing to stand down, claiming that a referendum in 1996 allows him to stay on until 2001.

Union member states have never recognised the results of that referendum, which Lukashenko used to grab wide-ranging political powers for himself at the expense of counterbalancing forces. One of his key strengths is the ability to appoint and fire ministers, civil servants and judges.

Nevertheless, in an attempt to encourage Belarus to adopt western-style norms of multi-party democracy and media freedom, EU governments have offered the country a range of incentives.

At present, Belarus is excluded from most of the schemes under the EU's Tacis aid programme for former Soviet states, although Minsk does benefit from some humanitarian help and participates in a number of regional projects dealing with environmental problems, cross-border trade and customs.

But in April, Union foreign ministers decided to try to reopen a political dialogue with the republic, provided Minsk made some positive moves in areas such as freedom of the media and human rights.

Lukashenko himself has declared an interest in improving relations with the EU. "Our country is open for collaboration and is ready for very serious steps towards normalising relations with the European Union," he said in a recent speech.

But such remarks are driven partly by fears that the Union's expansion to take in Poland would severely hamper the former Soviet republic's ability to trade with its western neighbours.

International observers remain pessimistic about the chances of Lukashenko easing his grip on the reins of power, not least because of the fragmented nature of opposition forces.

While the president has said that he is prepared to talk to any opposition parties in the run-up to next year's parliamentary elections, one of the main opposition leaders and a former prime minister in Lukashenko's government is in jail for alleged crimes relating to illegal loans, and another leading opposition figure is in exile in neighbouring Poland.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has also expressed concern that Belarus' law governing the conduct of next year's polls does not meet its minimum requirements for free and fair elections.

The 55-member organisation tried to organise a meeting of all Belarussian political parties in the Romanian capital of Bucharest last month, but the government pulled out at the last minute, insisting that any meeting should be held in a Belarussian city.