EU policy against Minsk helps Putin

The countries of the EU recalled their ambassadors from Belarus on Tuesday in reaction to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's expulsion of the Polish ambassador and the EU's envoy. The tightening of EU sanctions and the worsening diplomatic climate will only boost Russia's influence, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard: "In the case of Belarus, the classic dilemma facing democracies in dealing with dictatorships is compounded by the country's ties with Moscow. For the presidential candidate Vladimir Putin the EU measures against Minsk only days before the election are a godsend - a welcome opportunity to make use of the ever-present anti-Western reflexes in Russia. Moscow's economic influence in Belarus will continue to increase and the opposition will suffer even more. The EU would have had this much creativity and farsightedness even without a high representative for foreign affairs."

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