| home archive search downloads subscription contacts |
 |
|||||||||
No Business as UsualThe following is the conclusion of an Economist blog by Edward Lewis, dated December 23, 2010. In his blog the author questions some of the premises stated in a New York Times article by the four European Foreign Ministers “Lukashenka the Loser”The article is a fine start. But without followup, it will be just words. Here are a few possible suggestions, in no particular order. 1) Strength in numbers. Where are Urmas Paet, Ģirts Kristovskis, Audronius Ažubalis, Mikuláš Dzurinda, János Martonyi, Alexander Stubb and the other European foreign ministers? (they represent Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and Finland). The danger is that the article looks like a disappointed squawk from the authors of a failed policy, rather than a menacing growl from a united Europe. 2) Offer immediate EU scholarships for those students thrown out of university for their part in the protests 3) Set up a legal defence fund to pay the defence costs of those being prosecuted 4) Institute an immediate visa ban so that those involved in election falsification, illegal detention, beatings and show trials are unable to travel to any EU country. 5) Invite Joanna Survilla, president of the (unrecognised) Belarusan government-in-exile to high level meetings in EU capitals. 6) Issue strong simultaneous protests to Belarusan ambassadors in all EU countries 7) Say that unless protestors are released, all 27 EU ambassadors will be withdrawn 8) Make life difficult for Belarusan state agencies and entities to access the international financial system (banks, bond markets) 9) Apply EU competition law strictly to any exports of Belarusan goods, especially gas or oil, 10) Suspend Belarus’s membership of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly. What do readers think? I suspect that a combination of these might have more effect than a finely couched op-ed. This article appeared in Belarusian Review, Vol. 22, No. 4 --------------------------------------------- Copyright 2010 Belarusian Review All rights reserved. Edward Lewis
|
|||||||||
| Rubriques |
Belarusian Culture
Belarusians Abroad
Contents
Economy
Editorial
Features
Chronicle of Events
Legacy of Chernobyl
Letters
Media Watch
News Briefs
- Culture & Society
- Freedom of Religion
- Independent Media
- Belarus & the World
- Human Rights
- Politics - Opposition
- Politics - Regime
Thoughts and Observations
| New Articles |
| Belarus: That’s enough democracy (23.01.2011) |
| No Business as Usual (23.01.2011) |
| Blood and Special Operations in Belarus Politics (23.01.2011) |
| Declaration by the Coordinating Committee of Belarusians of Canada (23.01.2011) |
| Wrong Carrot, Wrong Stick (23.01.2011) |
| Belarus Police Arrest Opposition Leaders (23.01.2011) |
| Demonstration in London (23.01.2011) |
| Statement By the Rada of The Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile 28th December 2010 (23.01.2011) |
| A Nasty Surprise in Belarus (23.01.2011) |
| A backfire in Belarus (23.01.2011) |
| StatementBy the Office for a Democratic Belarus (Brussels) And the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (23.01.2011) |
| The Center for Belarusian Studies (23.01.2011) |
| In Belarus, a Slide Toward Eastern Aggression (23.01.2011) |
| BNR Rada Rejects Election Results (23.01.2011) |
| Opinion - The EU Has no Choice But to Continue Dialogue With Belarus (23.01.2011) |
| Readers' Favorites |
| Belarusian Weapons Exports:A Possible Source of Laundered Funds? (15739) |
| The Exchange Rate Policy for Belarus (15595) |
| Kitabs, the Unique Phenomenon of the Belarusian Language in "Encyclopedia of the Belarusian language" (15562) |
| Belarusica at the AAASS Convention (14568) |
| Vaclav Havel - in Defense of Jakub Kolas Humanities Lyceum (14512) |
| Putin Doctrine: Immediate Threat to Belarus (14106) |
| Belarusian Currency: Problems and Perspectives (13975) |
| Is Lukashenka Winning Back Hearts and Minds? (13618) |
| DZIADY and Kurapaty Unite the Opposition (13278) |
| Belarus Represented in the World Book Fair (13267) |
| Minsk Wants Compensation from Moscow for Abandoning National Currency (13261) |
| Opposition Forms New Pro-European Alliance (13107) |
| The Sad State of Agriculture (12738) |
| EU Aid Misuse Fears (12243) |
| The Third Wave, or the regimes current tactics in dealing with independent NGOs (11833) |