Pressure on Belarus is the payment for its independence and sovereignty, BelTA learnt from the chief of the group of cooperation “Latvia-Belarus” in the Latvian Saeima Nikolai Kabanov, who spoke at the roundtable “Belarus is an integral Part of Europe. Consolidation of Belarusians Abroad” held in Riga on 12 March.
Nikolai Kabanov was among the observers from the OSCE at the presidential elections in Belarus. He believes the elections were democratic and transparent.
“The current pressure on Belarus is the payment for its freedom. Of course, you can dance to someone else’s tune and do not care much about this. But Belarus has not been doing this. It is going its own way. And many do not like it,” said the representative of the Parliament of Latvia.
The EU must understand that “Belarus is a stable state with its own rules of the game,” said Nikolai Kabanov.
Isolation of Belarus is inadmissible and can work only harm, BelTA learnt from Latvian MP, PACE parliamentarian Boris Tsilevich who took part in the Riga roundtable session “Belarus - an integral part of Europe. Consolidation of Belarusian diasporas” on 12 March.
The session highlighted EU relations with Belarus, and in particular the pressure put on the country. In this regard the Latvian MP stated: “Pressure has always been a bad thing. I believe Belarus has its own problems which must be discussed openly. We need fewer grudges and a more constructive approach.” The official speaks in favor of an open dialogue that takes into account every opinion. Boris Tsilevich is convinced that the sides need to seek a way forward to prevent “this crisis from acquiring a global dimension”.
Belarus should be a full-fledged member of a big European family. This idea was brought to the forefront of the meeting between the Belarusian diasporas of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine in Riga.
The Belarusian diaspora has adopted an address to the leaders of the European Union member states, members of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament during a meeting in Riga on 12 March. The document called for resuming a constructive dialogue with Belarus. The address was signed by the heads of Belarusian diasporas of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine, BelTA has learnt.
The document was adopted following a roundtable session “Belarus - an integral part of Europe. Consolidation of Belarusian diasporas”.
Heads of Belarusian NGOs of the neighboring states drew the attention to the efforts to pressurize Belarus led by the European Union, the USA and other countries following the 19 December 2010 events.
The address emphasized that “the European mass media are still discussing the introduction of tough economic sanctions against the Republic of Belarus”. Belarusians living abroad believe that individual high-ranking officials of the European Union use the cold war and iron curtain rhetoric. Belarusian diasporas are wondering if it is acceptable in the modern-day Europe. “The two thousand year history of the European Christian civilization shows the pointlessness of using force in the international politics, the intrusion into the lives of independent states. The transition from diplomacy and good-neighborly relations to dictate and discrimination has never resulted in positive changes and never will,” the address says.
