Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego

A Coherent EU Strategy for Belarus

Key Policy Recommendations

Belarus is a European country and a new EU neighbour and therefore, a more serious European engagement should be adopted through a tailor-made strategy of aligning Belarus to European values. The Council of the EU, working closely with the European Commission, the European Parliament, as well as the Council of Europe and the OSCE, should develop both a short term strategy, from now until the next presidential elections in 2006, and a medium and long term strategy, focusing on developing civil society and strengthening democratic institutions in a post-Lukashenka era.

Until now, the European Commission restricted itself to a step by step approach within strict procedural constraints. The communication and support has mainly been done through or in accordance with the Belarusian authorities. This strategy needs to be reassessed.

EU policy should embrace two dimensions: on one hand there should be a set of positive, pro-active measures to support the development of Belarusian civil society and on the other hand, a set of actions directed against Lukashenka’s totalitarian regime.

As far as the ‘positive’ agenda is concerned, a coherent EU strategy for Belarus should be based on three pillars: a Platform for Belarus, a European Democracy Fund and Neighbourhood Assistance. These pillars will stand under the framework of the EU, directed by a Special Representative of the EU to Belarus. This Representative should be appointed by the EU heads of state and must operate from the Council.

Platform for Belarus: There is a need to create a mechanism for regular dialogue between the democratic forces and NGOs from Belarus and representatives of the EU institutions, member states (both governments and civil society), as well as from the US to discuss different modalities of cooperation and ways of supporting democratic processes in Belarus. In this context, the 11 out of the EU 25 countries that have permanent diplomatic representations in Belarus will play a leading role. A first meeting of the “Platform for Belarus” should take place as soon as possible in 2005. The meetings of the Platform must take place outside the country, possibly in Brussels. Such meetings could also take place in EU countries neighbouring Belarus, e.g. Vilnius would be a location that would facilitate participation of Belarusian partners. The Platform could serve as a testing ground for strategy recommendations. This will also be the environment to reflect on possible strategic actions beyond the current regime.

European Democracy Fund: It is impossible to support Belarusian civil society on the basis of official agreements with the government and in strict conformity with oppressive Belarusian legislation. Existing EU mechanisms and those planned under European Neighbourhood Policy will not permit the funding of Belarusian organisations which either do not have legal status or do not want to disclose funding from abroad to the authorities. The Polish government proposal of a European Democracy Fund would play the role of an intermediary mechanism. As an independent entity supported by the EU, it could channel funds to civil society entities in Belarus irrespective of their legal status in an effective and speedy manner. As the example of some public and private donors from the EU and US demonstrate, it is still possible in such circumstances to conform to basic standards of accountability though some information could not be publicly available. Such a Fund could become an instrument for the EU in general when it comes to promoting democracy in “difficult” countries with which the EU could not engage in a constructive dialogue at the governmental level.

Neighbourhood Assistance: This will include issues like environment, migration, and healthcare, as well as exchange and training programs in education and science, with the main aim to continue building up human capital. This assistance is of great importance, as it is one of the few fields that will not be stopped by the Lukashenka regime and it will help strengthen civil society and the attitude of society towards the EU. When it’s absolutely necessary, some of this assistance may require endorsement of the Belarusian government but activities taking place outside Belarus (e.g. exchange programmes) may be conducted without such constraints.

There might be greater impact in delegating aspects of the European competencies to the new member states like Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania. These countries might use their expertise to be more heavily engaged in the creation and programme design process of a new strategy. Also, there is a need to integrate other global actors such as the United States and to find new channels to cooperate with Russia in promoting a coherent policy towards Belarus.

An upgraded information strategy should promote an increased EU presence in Belarus. An EU Delegation/Information Office as well as further representations of EU member states will spearhead the promotion of the “European idea and values” and help to overcome the propaganda monopoly of the regime. A countrywide broadcasting radio and possibly a part-time TV-program from abroad, made primarily by and for Belarusians, is one possible proposal to reach both the urban and rural public. In this way, the EU will develop new channels for direct communication with the Belarusian society. However, similar initiatives have been tried in the past without much success (Radio Racija) and before launching new initiatives in this area, new innovative ideas (including technical) need to be thoroughly studied.

One important example of possible actions against the Lukashenka regime should be the extension of the visa ban to members of central and territorial election commissions as well as to heads of polling stations commissions since they are personally responsible for manipulating and falsifying the recent referendum and elections results. Such a ban could be introduced for a two year period, thus sending a strong message to would be perpetrators of electoral fraud in 2006 presidential elections.

Brussels, 19 November 2004