European Union’s indecisiveness in comma arrangement means lack of will in decision-making
The paradox of the current situation is that Lukashenko’s participation in the aggression against Ukraine and his support for Russia’s actions have led to the fact that citizens of Belarus in European countries, with the exception of Poland, are treated on a par with citizens of the Russian Federation. In other words, citizens of Belarus, on the one hand, do not support Lukashenko’s actions and, on the other hand, have become victims and hostages of the regime’s policy on the territory of the European Union.
Today, it is possible to say directly that the European Union and its member states, without, probably, having any intention to do that, have taken hostage the most active part of the Belarusan civil society that opposed the rigged elections, violence in Belarus, and the war.
Citizens of Belarus often face the situation when they cannot solve basic social problems, with refusals to rent accommodation, to find a job, to open a bank account, to make a payment, to start or continue their business. Refusals without explanations, as "no comments" are often said, have become examples in the life of many Belarusians.
At the same time, we do not hear from leading politicians in the West a very clear narrative that they perceive Lukashenko and his regime as complicit in the aggression against Ukraine. We do not hear any of the leading leaders of Germany, France, other countries or the leadership of the European Commission state clearly and unambiguously: "Lukashenko is guilty of the crimes committed before the war against the Belarusian people and which he continues to commit today, and he is guilty of aggression against Ukraine" - and for that he will be brought to justice.
Why is it possible to assert his guilt even without a conviction? Only because Lukashenko himself has repeatedly publicly admitted to committing criminal acts against Belarusians, as well as launching missile strikes, providing infrastructure in the war against Ukraine, supporting his ally — Russia.
We often talk about double standards. Now, this double standard is manifested in its ugliest form, consisting in the fact that Belarusians suffer from the illegal actions of Lukashenko’s regime, while the initiator and perpetrator of these illegal actions himself remains, as it were, in the shadows.
Therefore, the National Anti-Crisis Management’s campaign "Punish Putin’s Puppet" is one of the key tasks for our team. If you want, it is a key task for the whole democratic Belarusian society — to bring to justice a man who gave orders to kill Belarusians in the streets of Belarusian cities, to beat and torture them in prisons, to dismiss them from their jobs and force them to leave the territory of Belarus; a man who continues doing it every minute, every hour, every day, not stopping, but only increasing his repression; a man who usurped power in the country and unleashed together with Russia a war against Ukraine.
This is where the double standard comes in. Are there no political leaders left in Europe, able to say it clearly and distinctly and not only to say it, but to do it so that this madness, recklessness, lawlessness, immorality cease to exist in the very center of Europe.
Only Belarusians are responsible for their future and the future of our country. But Europe is responsible for continuing communication with the international criminal.
Pavel Latushka, head of the NAМ
25.05.2022
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