Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-08-Speech-3-138"
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"en.20081008.17.3-138"2
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"Mr President, the European Union is analysing and adjusting its own policy with regard to Belarus. The policy of sanctions and isolation we have pursued so far has not brought the anticipated results. It has failed to alter the repressive nature of the authorities. The Russian offensive in Georgia, signalling a resumption of the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions, was a new circumstance. It will most definitely have been noticed in Minsk and in other countries that Russia considers as its sphere of influence. An attempt to take advantage of this new situation with EU diplomacy would seem to make sense, with full awareness of the risk of dialogue with a dictator. This was done in agreement with the Belarusian opposition. An additional circumstance was provided by the parliamentary elections, as a test of good will on the part of President Lukashenko.
‘Carrot and stick’ diplomacy has not been a success, but that does not rule out a review of policy on Belarus in relation to the way the situation is developing in that country. The aim is still the same – to draw this European country into the sphere of democracy, a market economy and human rights. I am convinced that maintenance of Belarusian independence is a necessary condition, since it is only then that prospects for democratisation of the country will become real. The alternative scenario – democratisation of a country that has been absorbed by the Russian empire – is a historical illusion."@en1
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