“Calling today’s Belarus independent is probably an exaggeration,” said the former Lithuania Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis after the debate in the Lithuanian Seimas dedicated to the Freedom Day.
“I would say that the situation in Belarus is very similar to the so-called independence of the German Democratic Republic, which during the Cold War was occupied by Russian troops. The Communist Party of Germany was then a loyal satellite of the Soviet leadership. We can use different definitions, but the fact is that the so-called independent Belarus is de facto an autonomous region of Russia, starting with what we know about the Russian troops (Russian bases in Belarus – Belsat.eu), the economic reinforcement, loyalty to the Kremlin’s policies and about the similarity with Russia regarding human rights, free elections, the role of the security services and so forth,” said Mr. Azubalis after discussion “2015 in Belarus: when geopolitics takes precedence over the democratic values”.
The former Minister called the BPR a “nice attempt” and the final goal of Belarus – “become a normal, democratic, European and independent state”.
According to Ažubalis, the head of Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka is not involved in the peace talks on the situation in Donbass, because he only provides a platform for negotiations to other parties. Although Lukashenka presents himself as a mediator, there is no special peacekeeping mission of his, remarked the former head of the Lithuanian diplomacy.
[vc_single_image image=”2″ img_size=”large”]
Another panellist of the Freedom Day discussion – Member of the Lithuanian Seimas Rokas Žilinskas – said: “Unfortunately, we have to admit that our fellow Belarusians, although as patient as us, are still more tolerant to pressure, oppression, abuse. And a few years ago, when I traveled to the North of Belarus as an OSCE observer in the elections, I had to face the reluctance of people to change something and change themselves.”
The MP said that in the Soviet times he had many friends in Belarus, with whom he made plans for the future. “Now I see that our hopes for the future came true, and their hopes did not. Therefore, I consider it my personal duty to help these people achieve what we dreamed together.”
