Andrei Sannikov: USA must come back to Europe

The leader of the European Belarus civic campaign met the US vice-president Joe Biden and senator John McCain.

A forum “How we can effectively support freedom and democracy” took place on 26-27 April in Sedona (Arizona, USA). The event was organized by McCain institute of the University of Arizona

The vice-president of the United States Joe Biden, senator John McCain, senators Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, Sheldon Whitehouse, former senators John Keel and Joseph Lieberman, the presidents of Georgia and Macedonia Mikhail Saakashvili and George Ivanov, the Minister of Defense of Canada Peter MacKay, the president of non-governmental organization Freedom House David Kramer, the president of General Electric Jeff Immelt, the president of Wal-Mart Bill Simon, the leader of the European Belarus civic campaign and 2010 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, former Prime-Minister of Russia Mikhail Kasianov, heads of human rights organizations, ambassadors, including a former US ambassador to NATO Kurt Walker, who was one of the forum’s organizers, took part in the forum.

The forum was opened with a talk between senator John McCain and vice-president Joe Biden, who discussed the current problems of international politics. The talk was about the US’ domestic and foreign policy, common values of the Republicans and Democrats, about the role of America in the world. Biden and McCain, despite belonging to different parties, showed sincere interpersonal relations (which greatly impressed all the forum’s participants) and their adherence to increasing the significance of the US’ role in the world.

Very acute modern day problems were looked into at the forum. Naturally, the accent was made on how the United States can and must assist democracy development.

The leader of the European Belarus made a speech in the section, which was called “Less free Europe?”. The discussion was led by the vice-president of the Atlantic Council Daemon Wilson, who is very well familiar with the situation in Belarus.

“I spoke on the situation in Belarus, that Belarus started its independent existence as a responsible and reliable partner in international relations, as an active participant of the disarmament process, including nuclear disarmament, and strengthening of international security. The regime Lukashenka today is not only known for its mass violations of human rights, but poses a threat to security in the region and the world. In particular, there are calls for Belarus’ withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The situation in Belarus today cannot be viewed as a problem of a separate country. This problem has become regional as we can see from the processes, which are taking place in Russia and Ukraine.

The authoritarian model is spreading at a very fast pace, and the democratic world has not found ways to firmly resist it. Unfortunately, Europe is starting to talk again about the necessity of engaging Lukashenka, different options of such engagement appear – constructive, limited, selective. Only one thing is hidden beneath it – the legitimization of the dictatorship’s existence. We must speak today of disengagement, not engagement, of the dictatorship from international communications”, - Andrei Sannikov told the charter97.org web-site.

The leader of the European Belarus spoke of political prisoners at the forum, that more and more alarming news on their situation had been coming recently.
“I emphasized that the USA’s position has been steadily principled, but today the United States is taking a passive role. A close cooperation of the USA and Europe is needed for democracy and freedom support, as well as the development of joint approaches and actions towards the dictatorship. Such approaches deemed arising at the beginning of 2011, but unfortunately started getting forgotten today. In particular, such approaches embodied in the statement of three US senators John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and John Kerry, which was issued literally on the next day after the brutal crackdown on the peaceful protest manifestation and mass arrests in Minsk on 19 December 2010”, - Sannikov stated.

Already on the first day of the forum the politician managed to discuss the situation in Belarus with the US vice-president Joe Biden and senator John McCain.

“The vice-president took with great attention what I told him about the current situation, about the monstrous pressure on political prisoners. When I asked him what message to send to the people of Belarus, he said “The US supports freedom fighters in Belarus and take a principle position in regards to Lukashenka’s regime. There have been noted no progress in Belarus in terms of democracy and human rights, on the contrary the situation has only worsened. That is why the US’ position remains unchanged”.

The senator McCain supported my anxiety over the development of events in Belarus. Both politicians noted that they would follow the events attentively and react accordingly.

There was a good conversation with a former senator, an influential American politician Joseph Lieberman, who also asked to send the words of support and solidarity to all those, who fights for democracy in Belarus. We discussed the situation in detail with the president of Freedom House David Kramer, with the heads of other human rights organizations, with the ambassadors of the Baltic states to the USA, civic activists, lawyers etc.”, - Sannikov told.

It is worth noting that one of the main ideas of the conference was the necessity for the USA to come back to Europe.

“The Republican as well as the Democrats said that America somewhat distanced from the European affairs and did not that actively participate in the processes happening there, particularly in regards to freedom and democracy. This opinion was shared by the representatives of official bodies and public associations of Europe, who were present at the forum”, - the leader of the European Belarus said.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Hot Chernobyl Way 2013

This year the traditional Chernobyl Way held in Minsk was quite rough.

Before the manifestation, many activists of the ecologic movement opposed to the construction of the nuclear plant had been detained. For example, chairperson of the Council of Ekodom Iryna Sukhiy, activists Vasil Siniukhin, Kanstantsin Kirylenka and Volga Kaskevich were arrested in front of their buildings. They were kept in the Piershamaiski police department and released right when the Chernobyl Way was over. Other ecologists, blocked in their apartments, couldn’t join the demonstration. The ecologists had intended to protest against the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus during the Chernobyl Way 2013.

Earlier today in the town of Astraviets of the Grodna region where the nuclear power plant is being built leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Liabedzka and several accompanied journalists were detained twice.

Human rights activist Viachaslau Dashkievich was arrested near the building of the Savietski police department where some of the detained were taken. After the Chernobyl Way, activist of the anarchist movement Igar Trukhanovich was beaten up by four special services officers in civilian.

Even the journalists that were shooting the assault against Igar were detained, as well as other meeting participants on Bangalor Square.
Meanwhile, the Minsk State Executive Committee has authorized this Chernobyl Way. The participants of the demonstration did not break any law. At 18:30, people gathered near the October cinema house. They were holding transparents “Our Lives - The Nuclear Plant’s Price”, “We Are Against Nuclear Plant Construction”, “Hot Summer 1986 – For Whom?”. Young people in tissue masks distributed leaflets “Budget Spent on Nuclear Plant Leaves Nothing for Salaries”. The flags of the civil campaign European Belarus, Tell the Truth movement, the Belarusian Christian Democracy and the National People’s Front could be seen in the crowd.

Those in the head of the demonstration were carrying the icon of the God Mother of Chernobyl. The people were chanting Long Live Belarus, No to the Nuclear Power Plant in Belarus, Astraviets is the Second Chernobyl, Stop Dictatorship. Liapis Trubietskoy’s songs could be heard: Ne Byts Skotam and Gray!.
The demonstration urged to release all political prisoners. The participants of the demonstration called all thirteen prisoners by names.

According to the organizers, about 2000 people took part in the demonstration. The place of the meeting, Bangalor Square, was surrounded with metal fence and yellow tape. OMON searched each participant of the demonstration carefully. They didn’t allow carry loud speakers on to the stage, although the organizers of the Chernobyl Way had received permit to use loud speakers.

During the meeting, a resolution was adopted that included demands to stop the construction of the Astraviets Nuclear Power Plant and release political prisoners. It was also announced that the National ecologic committee named after Ivan Nikitchanka would be founded.

The organizers of the demonstration summed up the outcome of the Chernobyl Way in an interview to charter97.org:

Maksim Viniarski, activist of the civil campaign European Belarus:

“It was a peaceful action, even though the powers basically provoked its participants to break the law, and broke it themselves. The manifestation was authorized only on a narrow pavement of Surganau Street, where that many people simply cannot get through. From time to time people had to step on the road, with a very intense traffic.

The powers’ hypocrisy is appalling: they had organized an embarrassing chase of the ecologist while the demonstration had been officially authorized. The reasons to that are obvious. During the demonstration, the anti-nuclear activists planned to tell about the danger that our country will face if the Astraviets Nuclear Power Plant is built. Opposition activists may talk about this issue, but it is a completely different situation when respected experts whose opinion is vital for international institutions make a serious scientific case for it.

The powers lied about the nuclear power plant in 1986, and they still do. They understand that the opinion of ecologists and anti-nuclear activists is one of the key obstacles for this lie.”

Vital Rymasheuski, co-chairperson of the Belarusian Christian Democracy:

“I believe that the statements and publications the ecologists had produced before the Chernobyl Way annoyed Lukashenka. These preventive arrests have only one purpose: to intimidate. Today Lukashenka said in an interview that crops will continue to be cultivated and agriculture will continue to develop in the contaminated lands. This is a nervous reaction to the slogans that had been voiced before the action. And ecologists are most of all others opposed to the construction of the new Chernobyl – the Astraviets Nuclear Power Plant, the issue very sensitive for the Belarusian powers. That is why the ecologists were among the first to be arrested. The powers create obstacles to prevent anti-nuclear activists from speak more actively against the construction of the nuclear power plant.”

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Belarus may waive its non-nuclear status

Lukashenka's propagandidsts threaten that the country may withdraw from the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.

This statement was made by official politologist Yury Shautsou. According to him, Minsk may resort to this measure as a response to sanctions against Belarusian officials and oligarchs imposed over human rights violations, electoral fraud and persecution of opposition.

The Belarusian MFA again accused the US and the UK of violating their “commitments to Belarus”. This opinion was expressed in Belarus's statement at the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Belarus stressed that the tripartite security assurances provided in accordance with the 1994 Budapest memorandum in connection with Belarus’s voluntary renunciation of its status as a nuclear power are very important for Belarus.

The Belarusian delegation emphasised that despite the formalised and repeatedly reaffirmed commitments, some nuclear powers ignore them in practice, while continuing to apply economic and political pressure.

The politologist supposes the sanctions against the regime may lead to Belarus's withdrawal from the Budapest Memorandum.

Yury Shautsou speaks about the effect of this step for the country.

“It means Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan may receive a legal ground to return their nuclear status. I am not sure about other countries, but Belarus can definitely count on deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on its territory. Moreover, the Belarusian government already have 2.5 tonnes of nuclear materials, a part of them highly enriched enough to make, for example, a 'dirty bomb', in a short time,” he said in an interview with Rosbalt news agency.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

KGB puts on Anonymous mask: Belpartizan website hacked

Hackers from the law enforcement agencies threaten to hack the websites of Charter'97 and Viasna human rights centre.

“Belorusski Partizan”, a Belarusian independent website, has been hacked today, April 25.

A message from anonymous hackers was left on the site's main page. The hackers say they are “followers of Anonymous group”.

Anonymous is a group promoting the ideas of anonymity and freedom on the internet. Anonymous stands against internet censorship, persecution and control. The group hacked various state website sin protest and carried out attacks on big security organisations. The group members and supporters often wear Guy Fawkes masks, a symbol of the movement. The Guy Fawkes mask is also a symbol of fighting against repressive governments, as shown in the film V for Vendetta.
Hackers from the law enforcement agencies says they “could have hacked you [Belorusski Partizan”], Charter'97, Viasna human rights centre and many other sites long ago, but we give you an opportunity to work under our control.”

The website of Charter'97 was really attacked two days ago. The website remained blocked for an hour due to a DDoS attack, but the tech support team managed to cope with the problem. The analysis of the botnet involved in the attack shows the Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian trace (more than 60% of IP addresses are Ukrainian and 30% are Belarusian).

The first time when our technical support team noticed suspicious activity and mass hacking attempts was a month ago (March 20). We also faced attempts of putting the website into the database of infected websites on false reports.

The analysis of the traffic for our website and “Belorusski Partizan” shows a unusual sharp decline in visitors in the last three days. It is probably connected with enabling additional blocking tools for our website inside the country.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Sannikov: Lukashenka occupation regime defends itself with Russian weapons

The leader of the civil campaign European Belarus condemns opening a Russian air base in our country.
“It is not Russia that sets up air bases in Belarus. It is dictator Lukashenka who deploys a Russian military facility on our territory. He does it to strengthen the dictatorship and defend it from democratic changes. Moreover, this decision is targeted at Europe, as Lukashenka admitted himself.

A foreign state's military bases on the territory of another state is an ordinary thing, but it such a decision is taken by the legitimate head of state and approved by the legitimate parliament. Such decisions provoke public discussions. A real military threat is needed to made it. It is absolutely clear in this case that Belarus doesn't face military threats. All military preparations carried out by the Lukashenka regime are aggressive. Belarus does not have legitimate authorities, so such actions are illegal according to the standards of international law. Moreover, they threaten Belarus and the country's security.”

The politician thinks Europe should pay close attention to the aggressive defiance as well as to the forthcoming joint military exercises with Russia and understand that any attempts of resuming cooperation with the dictator will come to no good both for Belarus and Europe.

“Lukashenka does not represent the people of Belarus. His regime is occupying. Any contacts with him not only make the dictatorship stronger, but prolong the occupation of Belarus, also with the help of Russian weapons,” Sannikov said.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Mikuláš Dzurinda: In no case should sanctions against Lukashenka be softened

A former prime minister of Slovakia is shocked by holding the Belarusian-Lithuanian Forum.

Mikuláš Dzurinda said it in an interview with charter97.org.

A big Belarusian-Lithuanian economic forum was held in Lithuania recently. Prime ministers of Lithuania and Belarus Butkevičius and Miasnikovich took part in the event. Participants discussed closer economic ties between the countries, in particular, the increase in the amount of transit of Belarusian potassium and oil products through Lithuania. Do you think it is legitimisation of the Lukashenka regime in the West, though political prisoners are still in jails and the EU sanctions are in force?

I was very surprised. I can say I was even shocked by the news. I firmly oppose these actions. It is normal when neighbouring states cooperate in various areas, including foreign trade. Unfortunately, Belarus is not a normal democratic state. The regime is totalitarian, without a doubt. I think I won't be mistaken if I say there is a ban on contacts with Lukashenka. I am surprised by and deeply disappointed with the approach demonstrated by Lithuania. I think not only I, but also the people engaged in foreign policy and diplomacy reacted in the same way, because it doesn't help to get rid of Lukashenka's regime and bring freedom to the people of Belarus.

We know from our experience that repression become tougher in Belarus as the position of the Lukashenka regime softens. Don't you think certain European politicians give a license for repression by their actions?

I understand it perfectly. That's why I say that I am shocked, because I have my own experience – the experience of former Czechoslovakia. Basing on this experience, I can only stress that in no case should sanctions be softened. They must be strengthened, because Lukashenka doesn't implement any obligations. No compromises are possible with this regime, at least until freedom fighters are released.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Lukashenka: Don't make us bow that deeply

The Belarusian governor delivered a message to the people and the "parliament".

“The IMF, the EU and even Russia are saying the same: carry out privatisation, sell state-owned enterprises. I told them: We are not against selling any enterprise. But you must pay a proper price. Don't make us bow that deeply. It especially concerns our partners, our brothers. They should not do this,” Lukashenka said.

“We are reproached for violating human rights. But how should we understand the fact that the European Union has just ripped off a huge part of the population? Yes, it wasn’t poor people, hiding their money in offshores, but it was legal. And European Union officials probably kept their money there,” said Lukashenka.

“And then they retroactively froze everything and took away 60%. That’s human rights for you from the European Union’s point of view,” remarked he.

“Cyprus would not have gone for it but the European Union demanded it. I know it precisely. So human rights mean taking property away from people, although not poor people,” added Lukashenka.

“I like the phrase Dmitry Medvedev said that the European Union robs the robbers or something like that. Therefore, I am calm about it. It wasn’t poor people, who had been hiding money in offshores and have shared it with the Cyprian nation as dictated by the European Union,” said he. Lukashenka also added that the situation was totally not stressful for him.

“We are allies with brotherly Russia. We have no political differences. We are on the way towards the highest level of bilateral cooperation within the Union State, however some would not want it,” he said, adding that relations with the neighbors are a natural priority for Belarus.

“Once again I want to say it, frankly and absolutely honestly, for the EU, the United States and others: when negotiating with you, we will never proceed from the position whether we are with you or with Russia. There is no such choice for us and cannot be!” he said.

“We must ensure the economic security of the state. The economy is the foundation for the whole state and the whole national security. We must not slow down the fight against corruption, first and foremost in those sectors which use budget money. Every official should clearly understand that he will be held accountable for the abuse of power for personal gains,” the governor said.

“I also warn the directors of the companies who do not take run checks into the background of counteragents to make sure their reputation is credible, and who do not understand or do not want to understand that they should be crystal-clear because they are “on the frontline”, deal face to face with their own people and personnel. I think that the level of personal responsibility, control and adequate reaction from the state should be raised manifold,” Lukashenka said.

“Several serious organizational and personnel decisions have been made to enhance the protection of the state border. Order will be instituted in border checkpoints. I have repeatedly addressed the matter and have warned the top officials of the State Border Committee that have been renewed considerably recently: god forbid that anyone else easily crosses the state border, you will have yourselves only to blame. I would like to warn everyone, who tries to cross the state border, that we will act without mercy [against trespassers]. The border service has been given relevant instructions. The situation has deteriorated so much that border guards were afraid to stop a trespasser, who crushed everything on the way to enter Belarus. We had to spend days and a lot of money to catch him inside the country, had to mobilize the Interior Ministry, the Customs Committee, and the border service. So I would like to issue a public warning that the border service will use firearms upon the first act of disobedience,” stressed Lukashenka.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau