Belarus Slowly Losing its Independence: Wojciech Borodzicz-Smoliński

Wojciech Borodzicz-Smoliński of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw writes for New Eastern Europe that Belarus’s loss of sovereignty is a long-term process but it seems that this process is reversible. However, because this process is developing slowly and gradually, this phenomenon is making the EU consciousness fall asleep. 

Belarus Slowly Losing its Independence

By Wojciech Borodzicz-Smoliński

With the European Union ambassadors being recalled from Minsk last week, bilateral relations are getting dangerously close to being critical. This could result in the complete loss of the EU's influence in Belarus and the beginning of a new EU policy towards the country.

The EU Council has had problems with the introduction of new sanctions on Belarus, which clearly showed that Belarus has done its homework well and has learned how to run diplomacy according to the Russian handbook. In other words: act slowly but do not forget about your goals, do not act globally but rather choose local actions, assume that the EU is not running a single foreign policy, and always find the weak spots such as countries which are more interested in their own business than solidarity. 

For the full article please see: https://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/233