Belarus Live 15.01.2009

Last week two events happened on the same day that attracted attention of Belarusians to the maximum extent: inauguration of Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States, and a meeting of presidents of Belarus and Ukraine in Charnihau after the gas war between Moscow and Kyiv. Belarusian – American relations which were destroyed in many fields in recent years should have certainly provoked interest to the new US president and his foreign policy. And if the governing class in Belarus remains in cautious expectation of the future foreign policy of Washington, hoping that the notorious pragmatism will prevail, opponents of Lukashenka’s regime hope that Belarus, with its problems in the fields of democracy and human rights, will not be forgotten. The so-called dialogue between the regime and the West is conducted mostly in German, the language which Uladzimier Makiej, Head of the Presidential Administration and a career diplomat, has a perfect command of. The Belarusian party managed, after all, to persuade many of its interlocutors into pragmatism, which, in their opinion, means the priority of development of trade and economic relations and a de facto oblivion of freedom of speech and human rights’ issues.

• Месца выхаду: Мінск
• Дата выхаду: 2009-01-15
• Copyright: © 2006-2009 by Belarus live
• Кнігазбор: Kamunikat.org
• Дадатковая даведка: http://belarus-live.eu