It didn’t take long into Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency for many Ukraine watchers to conclude that he was steering the country away from Europe, not toward it as he so often declares.
For anyone who continues to doubt this conclusion, recent developments should be convincing. Working on the international stage, Yanukovych allies are publicly questioning his commitment to uphold core European Union values of democracy, human rights and free speech. Aleksandr Lukashenko’s authoritarian Belarus is a case in point.
In coming days, the European Commission is expected to adopt sanctions against Minsk and its leadership as a response to the nation’s deeper anti-democratic slide. One measure discussed is a European Union travel ban for top Belarus officials. Belarus also risks economic sanctions, which were lifted in 2008 amid signs that Belarus was making improvements on the democratic front.
Speaking in Brussels on Jan. 25, lawmaker Leonid Kozhara, a top foreign policy guru in Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, urged the European Union not to punish Lukashenko’s regime with sanctions for holding an unfair presidential election late last year and arresting oppositionists. Kozhara openly opposed the sanctions, saying: “We (Ukraine) are not for isolation, but for a broader inclusion of Belarus in all [EU] institutions of Eastern Partnership.”
Kozhara’s words come days after Yanukovych congratulated Lukashenko on his presidential election victory. A spokesperson at Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Ukraine “does not recognize Aleksandr Lukashenko as the legitimately elected president of Belarus” but opposed “isolating Belarus.” The spokesperson would not clearly state if Ukraine supported or opposed sanctions against Belarus, adding “since we are not a member of the European Commission, we are not obliged to follow any sanctions that are imposed, but will study them closely.”
Under Yanukovych, Ukraine has undoubtedly and increasingly demonstrated anti-democratic tendencies. In this context, a wish washy position on Belarus only reinforces fears that the country is veering far off track from EU “values.”
Visiting Kyiv early in January, EU Enlargement and Neighborhood policy commissioner Stefan Fuele said Ukraine’s EU integration hinges on adherence to core EU “values.” After expressing concern about the state of democracy in Ukraine, he stressed that Brussels could not compromise on the issue.
So far, the EU has demonstrated remarkable patience with Yanukovych’s administration. Itself wary of isolating Kyiv, pushing it closer to Moscow, Europe has been very diplomatic in its warnings. Perhaps the time has come for Brussels to call a spade a spade, being as upfront with Ukraine as it has been with Belarus.
