Uladzimir Makei: So far Eastern Partnership is of no great importance for Belarus

Belarusan Foreign Minister speaks about Eastern Partnership, integration with the EU, visa regime and Latvian border.

Uladzimir Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, gave an interview to the Polish newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna on November 20.

On Belarus’ membership the EaP program

Belarus’ participation in the Eastern Partnership summit will depend on Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s decision that should be made within days, Uladzimir Makei, Minister for Foreign Affairs, told Polish edition Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

 “We are interested in the summit and its possible positive effect on Belarus. Our participation is being discussed now and the decision will be announced one of these days. It depends on the Belarusian President’s decision”, - Euroradio reports his words.

Let us recall that the Eastern Partnership summit will be held in Vilnius on November 28-29. Belarus received an invitation with the name field empty. Belarus administration can choose the country’s representative. At the same time, if Aliaksandr Lukashenka inserts his own name in the field, he will not get a visa, European diplomats stressed many times. Belarus’ seat at the summit will remain vacant in this case.

On Belarus-EU relations

Uladzimir Makei does not exclude the possibility of Belarus joining the EU in the future: “Why not? Let’s calmly analyse the current processes instead of making states to take the final decision: to join Europe or the Customs Union. We have been overshadowed by bigger countries for a long time – Poland, Russia and the USSR. We did not build up any special identity in the past 20 years. We need time to decide which road to take.” Aliaksandr Lukashenka commented on the future of the Commonwealth at a meeting of CIS Presidents in Minsk in October. Belarus is not refusing to cooperate with the European Union, he noted. However, he does not think that it may be possible to join the EU. “They cannot stand us,” he told mass media.

"We have no choice (and cannot have any): Russia or the EU… We cannot go on without Russia and Russia cannot refuse from Belarusians… It is counterproductive to demand that we should turn our back on Russia,” Lukashenka said in his Message to the People and the National Assembly in April.

On visa regime with the EU

Belarus is in the first position as regards the number of Schengen visas given per one thousand people, the Minister said.

The issue of abolishment of the visa regime with the EU will be solved in the future and the interests of citizens from both sides will be taken into account, Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs Uladzimir Makei hopes. He responded to Polish Ambassador to Belarus Leszek Szerepka’s offer to cancel the visa regime this way.

  “The situation is paradoxical. Belarus suggested simplifying the visa regime with the EU back in 2004. But The EU kept refusing us until 2011. When they imposed sanctions, the EU suddenly changed its mind. The offer did not seem serious at that moment. I am hoping that the problem will be solved in the future and the interests of citizens from both sides will be taken into account. On the other hand, travelling to the EU is not a problem now as Belarus is in the first position as regards the number for Schengen visas given per one thousand people.”

On border agreement with Latvia

Belarus is going to add a number of changes to the small border movement agreement with Latvia, Makei said: “The agreement with Latvia produced a number of problems and we would like to change it. The issues are connected with the border traffic intensity.”

 The small border movement agreement with Latvia came into power on February 1, 2012. Belarusians and Latvians living in the border areas were allowed to visit the neighbouring countries without visas. They only need a special permit for it now. Similar agreements were signed with Lithuania and Poland but they have not been ratified so far. It is necessary to study the results of the agreement with Latvia first, Makei said replying to a journalist’s question about the agreement with Poland.

“Poland suggested increasing the capacity of border check-points. I wouldn’t like the agreement to result in border chaos. On the other hand, the issue is being considered in the general context of our relations”, - Euroradio quotes him saying.