FRIDE - Playing into the hands of Lukashenka

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Eastern dimension and the Balkans / Comment

Playing into the hands of Lukashenka

30/06/2008 By Balázs Jarábik

The EU lacks a unified approach and shows few signs of using what leverage it has against Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship. Skilfully playing on his country’s strategic location between a resurgent Russia and a divided West, Belarus’s Alyaksandr Lukashenka is now Europe’s longest-serving political leader.

For all the European Parliament’s tough statements about human rights, the Commission’s priority remains rapprochement and business friendliness. It even insists that local civil society organisations receiving EU funds should be officially registered, making it close to impossible for pro-democracy NGOs to benefit. This incoherence plays perfectly into Lukashenka’s hands.

In this Policy Brief, written for European Voice, FRIDE Associate Fellow Balázs Jarábik argues that the EU needs a more realistic understanding of Belarus, and policies to match.

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