MOSCOW, 22 September (BelTA) – Talks about the European Union possibly introducing visa-free travels for Belarus citizens are nothing but a ploy meant to affect feelings of ordinary Belarusians, BelTA learned from Sergei Rekeda, Director General of the Russian Center for Studying Integration Prospects.
The expert noted that the proposal to lift visa requirements for Belarusians is a ploy meant to affect feelings of ordinary Belarusians. “They are told that it can be done easily. De facto we understand that it won't happen. If the European Union really wanted to introduce visa-free travels for Belarusians, it would have been done before the presidential election,” he said.
The expert reminded that Belarus and the European Union have been discussing visa matters for years. Certain progress was secured after intensive talks. In particular, the price for Schengen visas for Belarusian citizens was slashed. Sergei Rekeda described the proposal to lift visa requirements as unreal. “It is an initiative of individual members of the European Union. Everyone understands that it is only a statement, not some real action,” the expert is convinced.
The European Union is putting pressure on Belarus, Sergei Rekeda stated. “It is not as active and direct as the pressure on Ukraine was in late 2013 – early 2014: Belarusians are not required to make a geopolitical choice, at least at the top European level. In Belarus the West continues the tactics of soft involvement. The visa issue is one of the ways to demonstrate that they are friends of the Belarusian society. The fact that these promises are unrealistic is a secondary matter for European politicians,” he stated.
“The European Union elite is not interested in promoting an equal humanitarian and cultural dialogue. The elite is not interested in it. It is interested only in assets and target markets inside countries of the Eastern Partnership Initiative. From the political point of view it is a subordinate situation meant to force these countries to follow the course of European politics. The elite is not worried about universal human problems,” he concluded.
