Aleksandr Klaskovsky: Today we can speak about the diplomatic war between Minsk and Brussels



EU countries withdraw their ambassadors from Belarus for consultations, said Maya Kochiyanchich, a spokesman of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. The political analyst Aleksandr Klaskovsky analyzes the situation in the interview to www.Euramost.org.

"Following the request of the Belarusian authorities
that the head of EU mission in Minsk and the Polish ambassador must leave
Belarus, EU High Representative together with the Polish Minister of Foreign
Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski decided to withdraw ambassadors for
consultations", - said Kochiyanchich.

According to her, at the emergency meeting of the Committee on Political
Affairs and Security Policy, which took place in the evening of February 28 in
Brussels, it was decided to withdraw all the ambassadors of EU countries from
Minsk.

"It was decided at that meeting in solidarity and unity that the
ambassadors of all EU countries will be withdrawn from Minsk for
consultations", - said the representative of Ashton.
"Moreover, all Belarusian ambassadors in the EU will be summoned to
Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the receiving countries, "- added
Kochiyanchich.

Without waiting for a general decision, Germany withdrew its ambassador from
Belarus for consultation. "This step against Poland, step against the
European Union, is tantamount to a step against us, the Germans," - said
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Brussels.

Let’s remind you that on February 28 the official Minsk suggested that the head
of the EU Delegation in Belarus Maira Mora and the Ambassador of Poland Leszek
Szerepka "to go to their capitals for consultations to inform their
leadership about the firm position of the Belarusian side about the
unacceptability of pressure and sanctions". Andrey Savinykh, the spokesman
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belarus announced this in response to the
decision of the EU Council to enlarge the list of the banned Belarusian
officials, reported naviny.by.

On February 27, at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU in
Brussels, another 21 Belarusian officials has been included into the so-called
black list. They are representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement
agencies. Their names should be published on February 29 in the Official
Journal of the European Union.

- This immediately raises parallels with the so-called "sewage"
scandal related to the residences of the ambassadors of the European Union in
Drozdy in the late '90s, when the ambassadors were also asked to move out of
residences, and eventually the situation ended with a similar demarche, - said
Aleksandr Klaskovsky. - This situation continued for about a year, but then the
ambassadors came back to Minsk in their new residences. In fact, in that battle
of nerves and ambition the Belarusian side has won. And perhaps that story is
now spiriting up the Belarusian leadership. We know that it doesn’t have a high
opinion about the European politicians. In one of the latest the interviews the
Belarusian official leader put it rather crudely when mentioning that some
European politicians did not even have enough male traits. And now European
foreign policy is being tested on the subject of masculinity. The decision of
Brussels to withdraw all ambassadors shows that Europe is still trying to keep
its front going and to show that is not ready to be insulted. There is an
escalation of the conflict of genes, as psychologists call it. And it's
dangerous, because the law of escalation of the conflict of genes says that
each of the parties has to answer with stronger words or actions to preserve
face. That’s how all the wars start, when no one wants to concede. In the end
it develops into a real battle. And today we can talk about the diplomatic war
between Minsk and Brussels.

- What future scenarios can be assumed?

- Any war ends sooner or later, but then the ruins remain for a long time. And
in this case it is clear that the current escalation complicates the illusory
prospect of normalizing the relations of Belarusian leadership with Europe.
Earlier the analysts also had very uneasy version in this regard. They said, after
his return to the Kremlin Vladimir Putin could "harass" the
Belarusian authorities which could make Belarus turn to the West. Parliamentary
elections can be organized more or less properly, and they can be recognized.
In this context, it will be possible to release political prisoners, and it is
a matter of principle. Without it Europe didn’t agreed to return to dialogue,
and now even the more so. Anyway, the problem is in political prisoners, and
now, considering all circumstances, the official Minsk removed this question from
the agenda. As they say, war is war. And earlier, Belarusian leadership reflected
very painfully to this issue, but now it has an excuse. If the West acts such
way, what concessions can we make to the members of the "fifth
column" (as the authorities call the opposition). So one of the saddest
consequences of the conflict would be the fact that just political opposition,
civil society will suffer most... With all the threats of the Belarusian
authorities and a harsh respond to Europe, it is clear that the Belarusian
leadership can’t make an economic war to Europe. If to stop the export of oil
to the West it means to destroy themselves. It remains only to stifle the
opposition, all dissidents in the country and to continue any further diplomatic
war with Europe, although it is difficult to imagine, what else can happen after
the departure of the ambassadors. Surely there will be new propaganda films on
BT, people will explained that Europe is the enemy, which was preparing evil
plans. That is, in this respect, the prospect is bleak.

Viktor PAVLOV.