MINSK, 13 July (BelTA) – If the EU plans to isolate Belarus or cause serious economic damage, it will all boomerang back on them, political analyst Aleksei Dzermant told the SB.Belarus Segodnya daily, BelTA informs.
“Now the collective West, as if on someone's command, has begun to impose sanctions and all kinds of restrictions against Belarus citing political reasons. They believe that they will not incur any significant losses themselves. But if you look at the map, you will realize that it is the wrong way of treating Belarus. In fact, our country is a ‘bottleneck' between Europe and Greater Eurasia, a country where transit routes pass. If the EU wants to isolate us or inflict serious economic damage on us, all this will surely boomerang - from increasing logistics costs to increasing border security costs (by the way, Belarus made a significant contribution to their border security). And if someone in Europe plans to ostracize our country, cap its growth or turn it into a logistic dead end, then Poland, for example, will also turn into such a logistic dead end, and German business will pay significantly more for the delivery and receipt of goods,” the expert said.
Aleksei Dzermant believes that this whole situation plays into the hands of the UK and the USA, rather than continental Europe, as the creation of barriers in Eurasia has always been part of a big strategic game of the former to gain domination and control over territories and trade routes.
“If this is really so, then the Germans and the French who claim a decisive role in the EU should answer the following question: how independent are they if the sanctions initiated against us and Russia are detrimental to their own interests? Belarus will use both symmetric and asymmetric measures against those who are trying to bring us to our knees. Any sanctions, restrictions are always unpleasant, you have to adapt and rethink your economic strategies. It is clear that our government will need some time for that. However, we should turn this situation into something positive and use it as an opportunity to grow. We can and should respond with import substitution, search for new markets and new partners, closer integration with allies,” the expert said.
