This week was marked by major Belarusian events in the political agenda of the EU: the meeting of Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Donors Conference in Warsaw and today we are the host country of the Belarus International Implementers Meeting, organized for the 6th time.
During the Foreign Affairs Council this Monday, the EU sent two messages: imposing targeted sanctions on regime officials and declaring openness of the EU to ten million ordinary Belarusians. The Council Conclusions noted a strong commitment by the EU to strengthen its engagement with the Belarusian people and civil society, especially youth. The EU openness towards ordinary Belarusian people is almost the only real engagement tool at our disposal. Therefore, we expect the EU to start negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission agreements in the coming weeks.
Support to civil society in Belarus is of key importance and has to be made more visible. Our financial instruments have to be redirected for projects to support civil society, youth and also to foster people to people contacts, as younger generations have always had a more open outlook compared to their predecessors. These conditions are essential, aiming to establish solid grounds for real democratic alternatives in Belarus.
Lithuania has quite a valuable experience working with representatives of civil society: project “United Students of Belarus” (annual meetings and summer camps), Music and arts festival “Be2gether” on the State border of Lithuania and Belarus. We have to be innovative, if we want to reach the wider segments of Belarusian society.
Lithuania is a neighbouring country to Belarus with a long historical background, and these circumstances create a wide range of possibilities for Belarusian NGOs and civil activists to install and act on various initiatives from a distance. Working together with Lithuanian NGOs, we have number of projects implemented in Lithuania. In addition, , we are ready to cooperate with other countries by implementing mutual programmes with Belarus, thus concentrating donors’ efforts and seeking for the better results. Cooperation with the Swedish International Development Agency – SIDA, is one of the good examples how development programmes of two countries can be merged and directed to one goal – democratic Belarus.
I would like to announce, that Lithuania will double its support for civil society of Belarus in the year 2011, through the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme.
The European Humanities University is clearly the flagship of our support for the new generation in Belarus. EHU might also need to be reinforced, especially if a new wave of students and teachers are being expelled from Belarusian universities. We highly appreciate the EU, Nordic Council of Ministers and other donors’ work to keep this unique University in exile running. I invite your esteemed countries to join our efforts, as there are plenty of possibilities, not only to continue the project, but also to further develop and strengthen it.
It is important to do our most already today. “Short term measures”: medical, legal assistance to victims. “Medium term” measures: EHU summer schools, projects with independent mass media, learning of EU languages etc. In this respect we are also considering strengthening the activities of the Democracy and Development Fund, established in Vilnius 2007. The fundamental aim of the Fund is to respond to the immediate needs of democratic activists and human rights defenders, who have suffered from oppression. Nonetheless, the Fund promotes the cooperation of societies from Eastern European countries. It is envisioned that it would create a network of NGOs, regional experts and public policy makers that would support democracy promotion processes in Eastern Europe. We believe the possibilities of this Fund should be fully explored.
Even though the OSCE office was closed in Minsk on the New Year Eve, Belarus remains an active member of the OSCE and as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office (CiO) I have to look for an engagement formula, to build bridges, to facilitate in implementing the OSCE principles and commitments. I have discussed the continuation of the presence of, and activities by, the OSCE Office with the Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Chairmanship has had a number of consultations in Vilnius, Brussels and Vienna. I believe my Belarusian counterpart understands that there’s much ground to be covered by the OSCE in Belarus, across all three dimensions.
The OSCE Office in Minsk had assisted the Belarusian authorities in many areas, raging from economic and environmental to democracy and civil society. Its mandate remains unfulfilled. It is even more regrettable in light of the commitments the Heads of State re-confirmed just a few months ago at the OSCE Astana Summit.
It is clearly proposed that the Belarusian Government reverses its decision and renew the OSCE presence in Minsk. As CiO I am ready to dispatch my envoy to Minsk to discuss modalities of such a presence and its activities.
Belarus must engage actively with ODIHR and the Representative on the Freedom of the Media. Shortly OSCE/ODIHR will present the final report on the observation of the Presidential elections in Belarus. I hope, that the Belarus authorities will work constructively with OSCE/ODIHR to implement recommendations contained therein, as well as other recommendations made early by the OSCE institutions.
I promise to keep the Belarus question alive at the highest EU, OSCE and other international fora.
Vilnius has always been very close and a special city for the Belarusian’ people. The intellectuals, scientists, academics and artists of Belarus, concerned about the future of their homeland, have lived and worked here. Lithuania, as a democratic country, will support people’s activities and projects, directed to building of civil society and democratic Belarus.
Thank you for your attention.
