Saving what can be: what the Eastern Partnership could (still) bring to Belarus
Saving what can be: what the Eastern Partnership could (still) bring to Belarus

Author(s): Anaïs Marin
Subject(s): Governance, International relations/trade
Published by: ECEAP Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership
Keywords: Blarus; Lukahenko;
Summary/Abstract: The Eastern Partnership (EaP) failed to draw Belarus any closer to the EU. Sliding back into authoritarianism since the last rigged election of Alexander Lukashenka on 19 December 2010, Belarus illustrates the limited outreach of the EU’s soft power over reluctant neighbours. Equally uninterested in EU accession and in democratic reforms, the regime could hardly embrace European values for the sole sake of taking part in a project which, from its viewpoint, is a “partnership” in name only. Yet scrapping the EaP altogether would amount to throwing the baby out with the bath water. In fact, the EaP aroused considerable hopes in Belarus, sparking off initiatives which, if implemented, could in practice benefit the Belarusian population. More importantly, given the freezing of their bilateral relations, the EaP is currently the only platform for resuming EU cooperation with Belarus. While signs multiply on the economic and social front that the foundations of “Europe’s last dictatorship” are shaking, the EaP could also be the best available tool to accompany Belarus’ transition to a post-Lukashenka era.

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