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Opinion: Belarus' withdrawal from Eastern Partnership is a serious image loss for EU
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MINSK, 8 July (BelTA) - Belarus' withdrawal from the Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative is a serious image loss for the European Union, political analyst Aleksei Dzermant told the SB. Belarus Segodnya daily, BelTA informs.
"Belarus has suspended its participation in the EU Eastern Partnership initiative. This is a perfectly logical and appropriate step after the EU imposed several rounds of economic sanctions. For our country, participation in such initiatives has become meaningless. Belarus saw the Eastern Partnership as an opportunity to solve common problems by joint efforts: to shield Europe from illegal migration, with migrants rushing there through our country too. But it is not only our job to protect the EU's borders, because we are not the ultimate destination for illegal migrants. The initiative's programs allowed creating the necessary infrastructure for reliable border protection and customs control. In any case, Belarus sought to make a meaningful contribution to the initiative by its participation and vision," the analyst said.
According to him, Belarusian diplomats repeatedly stated that the most important thing in this project was economic cooperation, investments, not geopolitical designs or promotion of "European values", that excessive politicization would destroy the project and make it odious. That's what happened in the end.
"European politicians (especially from the eastern part of the EU with many persistent complexes) saw the EaP in a different light, namely as a mechanism of influence on the domestic political situation in the countries participating in the initiative, as a possibility to advance the geopolitical interests of the West vs the interests of Russia or the participating states themselves. Obviously, it couldn't have lasted long. Belarus is not a state that will tolerate hypocritical games against it,” Aleksei Dzermant said. "It has become clear that, for example, the support of the so-called civil society within the EaP framework actually turned into subversive activities in order to overthrow the government, sponsor destructive forces, which at a certain point begin to destabilize the situation in society," he said.
The expert believes that Belarus' withdrawal from the initiative is a serious image loss for the EU. "At least for those countries that actively supported it and saw it as a chance to advance European interests in the East. The responsibility for why this project failed rests solely with those European politicians who, because of their ambitions and false ideas about reality, have not been able to turn it into a real tool of good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation. Belarus, showing goodwill and sincere desire to establish normal relations with its Western neighbors, has long been studying what Europe offers and how it offers,” Aleksei Dzermant said. “Belarus sought to channel the EU’s initiatives into something constructive and useful, acted respectfully and diplomatically, but the European Union did not appreciate it. As soon as the occasion presented itself, they reapplied all their wild prejudices and unfounded claims to our country. Well, Belarus will mirror their actions. We will not participate in the projects, where our interests are neglected. We are withdrawing from the Eastern Partnership, and it makes no sense without us. Europe has done everything for this,” he concluded.
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