With Belarus rapidly moving towards a post-Lukashenko era, the EU has no credible option but to support Belarusians’ bottom-up demands for democracy. This has geopolitical implications that the EU needs to be prepared to address. Russia is determined to maintain control over Belarus and likely to perceive the EU’s engagement as undesirable if not threatening.
The awakening of Belarusian civil society is surprising and impressive. Since the blatantly falsified presidential elections of 9 August, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have peacefully taken to the streets, demanding free elections and braving police brutality.
The EU has stated that it does not accept the falsified election outcome and started to prepare sanctions against “those responsible for violence, repression and the falsification of election results”.
It is also mobilizing support to Belarusian civil society and is ready to facilitate a negotiated way forward.
The EU is using the instruments that it has and responding by and large the way it has to, if values such as democracy and human rights are to have any place in its foreign policy. However, it needs to respond more seriously to the geopolitical implications of the Belarusian revolution.
The EU’s ability to influence the outcome is limited. As with any democratization process, domestic factors play the decisive role. Furthermore, the most influential external actor in Belarus is Russia, not the EU. And Russia’s view on the events in Belarus, and on the EU’s activity there, is bound to be different from the European one.
Read more:
The EU Should Be Prepared to Defend the Independence of Belarus – ICDS
The awakening of Belarusian civil society is surprising and impressive. Since the blatantly falsified presidential elections of 9 August, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have peacefully taken to the streets, demanding free elections and braving police brutality.
The EU has stated that it does not accept the falsified election outcome and started to prepare sanctions against “those responsible for violence, repression and the falsification of election results”.
It is also mobilizing support to Belarusian civil society and is ready to facilitate a negotiated way forward.
The EU is using the instruments that it has and responding by and large the way it has to, if values such as democracy and human rights are to have any place in its foreign policy. However, it needs to respond more seriously to the geopolitical implications of the Belarusian revolution.
The EU’s ability to influence the outcome is limited. As with any democratization process, domestic factors play the decisive role. Furthermore, the most influential external actor in Belarus is Russia, not the EU. And Russia’s view on the events in Belarus, and on the EU’s activity there, is bound to be different from the European one.
Read more:
The EU Should Be Prepared to Defend the Independence of Belarus – ICDS
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