Word: lukashenka
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Belarus is in many ways a post-Soviet nation in name only. Its state security service is still called the KGB and the iron-fisted rule of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has led the U.S. State Department to dub the country "Europe's last dictatorship." U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Freedom House included the country in its "Worst of the Worst 2009" report released earlier this month, naming Belarus one of the 21 most repressive places in the world...
Since the Georgia-Russia war last August, Brussels has been keen to draw Belarus away from Moscow and closer into its camp. The first step last October was the suspension of an E.U. visa ban against Belarus' authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and other top officials. That relaxation of the travel restrictions, which were first instituted in 2006 after a rigged presidential election and violent crackdown on protestors, was renewed last week. In another sign of mending relations, the E.U.'s foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Minsk on Feb. 19 for meetings with top Belarusian officials. E.U. leaders...
Analysts say that while the Belarusian leader is looking to expand his options beyond traditional ally Russia, he is also trying to get as much as he can from both sides. "Lukashenka is feeling pressure from Russia both economically and politically," says Marples, "He is very much sucked into the Russian orbit and seeks some release." Belarus has in the last six months received a $2 billion loan from Russia, and is under pressure to recognize the Russian-backed breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. E.U. politicians have warned against such a move...
Others disagree. "In effect, the E.U. has taken away its previous conditions of democracy and human rights," says Valery Karbalevich, a Belarusian political analyst. "They still talk about them, but they don't mean it." And Lukashenka seems less than committed to living up to the initiative's "shared values, including democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights." Just last week he said, "It's wrong [for the E.U.] to disturb us over minor points," and called the opposition "enemies of the Belarusian people...
...There has been some progress, including the release of some political prisoners," says Karbalevich. "But it's a game for Lukashenka. He doesn't intend to make any fundamental changes, just enough to satisfy European politicians...