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Belarus will be low on Eastern Partnership summit agenda, says former Lithuanian foreign minister

Belarus will take a "very modest" place at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit, which will be held in Vilnius on November 28 and 29, irrespective of who represents it, Lithuanian MP Audronius Azubalis, who served as foreign minister between 2010 and 2012, told reporters in Minsk on Monday.

Year after year, Belarus' self-isolation from Europe increases, Mr. Azubalis said. For example, the European Union has repeatedly invited Belarus to start Schengen visa facilitation talks, but Minsk has given no response to Brussels in a clear sign of its reluctance to reengage with Europe, he said.

Mr. Azubalis stressed that European politicians were doing their best to prevent Belarus from drifting even further away from the EU.

Andrius Kubilius, who was Lithuania's prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012, noted that Russia should not view the Eastern Partnership as a threat to its influence in the post-Soviet region. "We want to help Russia overcome post-imperial problems that had earlier existed in France and the United Kingdom," he said. "Russia with Ukraine is an empire. Without Ukraine, Russia has an opportunity to become a normal European democracy."

Earlier in the day, a delegation of Lithuania’s Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats that included Messrs. Kubilius and Azubalis had signed a declaration of cooperation with the United Civic Party. //BelaPAN