March 10, Pozirk. The West called for the release of certain individuals but has failed to respond to the “humanitarian steps” taken by Alaksandar Łukašenka, Foreign Minister Maksim Ryžankoŭ told a Belarusian state-run TV network yesterday.
The official most likely referred to the recent release of jailed Belarusian regime critics by Łukašenka, who signed a pardon on March 5 for 18 convicted individuals, including 15 charged with extremism-related offences.
“You say [Minsk should] do something else. Well, that’s not how it works. If this cooperation is meant to be mutually beneficial, then steps should be taken by both sides,” Ryžankoŭ said. “There can’t be this constant mantra: you must, you must, you must. In the end, no one owes anyone anything.”
The diplomat also stated yesterday that Western countries’ policies were “shifting toward finding a way to normalize relations” with Belarus. He accused unspecified politicians, whom he described as “the architects of the unrestrained sanctions policy” against Belarus and Russia, of hindering the process.
“Everyone understands that the sanctions policy has not produced the results that were expected,” Ryžankoŭ said, adding that instead of changing, the political systems in Belarus and Russia “only consolidated further.”
“At present, these sanctions are hitting Europe itself the hardest,” the official noted. “But not every politician in the European Union can dare to come out today and say, ‘We were wrong, let’s work with Belarus.’”
Minsk has strengthened ties with Hungary and Slovakia, both members of the EU, because “the leaders of these countries stand up for their people rather than for transatlantic corporations” and “do not treat politics like a computer game,” he said.
Over the past few years, democratic countries have imposed multiple restrictions on Belarus over human rights abuses, alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, a brutal crackdown on protesters, the forced landing of a Ryanair flight, a migration crisis at the European Union border, as well as support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
