H.E. Ambassador Dirk Schuebel discussed the process of deterioration of the EU-Belarus relationships after he was appointed as the Head of EU Delegation to Belarus in 2019 till nowadays as well as the problems he faced up with after 2019 (such as handling of the situation with Covid-19 in Belarus; the way the presidential elections campaign was run in Belarus, reduction of diplomatic presence in Belarus, migration crisis); the actions that the EU delegation in Minsk was and is undertaking in Belarus to improve or to influence the situation and the fifth package of sanctions that was introduced earlier that day.
Among the priorities that are set by the EU Delegation in Belarus are:
- Help to the civil society;
- Health sector (vaccination by EU vaccines in Belarus);
- Education sector via financial support of education, scholarships to Belarusians outside Belarus;
- Support of the small-medium businesses;
- Support of independent media;
- Support of human rights defenders;
- Constitutional reform;
- The influence of Russia on the situation in Belarus.
Ambassador Schuebel’s lecture was followed by Q&A session. The students have actively participated in it and asked the questions.
One of the questions was: “Why Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya won’t represent Belarus at the Eastern Partnership Summit?”
According to H.E. Ambassador Dirk Schuebel: “EU believes that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya won the Presidential elections, but there is no detailed proof, as the authorities have quickly destroyed the proof after the elections. We need new properly observed elections. We are sure that Sviatlana had the majority of voices. If we would allow Sviatlana to be there, we would in a way speak against our own rules”.
Another question was addressing the referendum in Belarus and the view of the EU on it. H.E. Ambassador Dirk Schuebel stressed: “The instrument of the referendum is a good one, but only when it is properly prepared. However, in this referendum we don’t see broad public participation in its preparation, that’s why the referendum cannot be objective and good”.
Moreover, the economic sphere in Belarus was discussed by the students and the Ambassador, as “the amount of exported goods has increased in the last two years, which means that Belarusian authorities regime will have funds to support itself for the next several years without money inflows from Russia or EU”. According to H.E the Ambassador “the economic situation in Belarus isn’t so bad now: a) because the sanctions are directed towards the mid-term, not the short-term, so they will have a bigger effect in the next two years, not right now; b) the idea of the EU is not to ruin the country but to give the warning signs to the regime. In the system without reforms, there will not be any progress. Before conditions of EU will not be performed, there will be no support to the Belarus from EU. Unfortunately, Russia will continue to support Belarus, at least in the foreseeable future”.
While answering the questions, the Ambassador has also stressed the crucial role of education in humanities: “Number of catastrophes could be avoided if pupils in the world would receive humanitarian education as well. In post-soviet countries, much more attention should be devoted to it starting from the small age”.
The Q&A session was concluded by discussion of the main results achieved by the EU Delegation and future expectations.
The full video of the event is available below:
