Brussels, 28/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - If Belarus wants to join European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) this year and the bilateral chapter of the Eastern Partnership launched in May (Minsk already takes part in the multilateral chapter), then the country should rapidly adopt “convincing and irreversible reforms” on human rights, rule of law, fundamental freedoms and electoral law. This was stated by the current president of the Council of the Union, Carl Bildt, and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner after a meeting of the troika with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergeij Martynov, in Brussels on Tuesday 28 July. Since EU/Belarus political dialogue was launched last autumn, the situation has gradually improved but the regime under President Alexander Lukashenko “does not yet meet our expectations”, Mr Bildt told the press. “Belarus authorities can and should do more”, the Swedish foreign minister stressed. In September, the Commission and Council will begin assessing to what extent Minsk has met the “five areas for democratisation” that the Council had established in summer 2008. If Belarus' response is sufficiently ambitious and concrete, the EU may decide during the External Relations Council on 16 November this year to upgrade relations, with inclusion of the country in ENP and full integration in the Eastern Partnership, Ms Ferrero-Waldner and Mr Bildt said. “We could unlock the full potential of our relationship, hopefully already in November, if convincing and irreversible reforms are decided by Belarus”, Ms Ferrero-Waldner said.
Sergeij Martynov said his country's full integration into the Eastern Partnership was a “priority” for his government. Minsk, however, also has “expectations” of the EU, first and foremost for facilitating visas and gaining better access to the European market, the minister said.
Macro-economic and financial aid. The commissioner for external relations also announced that the Commission was willing to “consider” macro-economic and financial aid to Belarus (including EIB and EBRD loans) but only once the country has concluded an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Such financial assistance on the part of the EU would not be directly subject to an improvement in the country's democratic situation, but would simply be subject to the traditional conditions imposed by the IMF, Ms Ferrero-Waldnber said.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Mr Martynov also said that his government had not yet decided whether it would recognise the self-proclaimed independence of the two breakaway republics of Georgia (as Russia requests), or not (as the EU requests). This is a “complex issue”, he told the press, adding: “We shall look into it but no final decision has yet been taken either way”. (H.B./transl.jl)