Clemency for Europe's last dictator

On Monday the EU provisionally rescinded the long-year travel ban for the Belarus President Alexander Lukaschenko and other of the country's top civil servants. Klassa newspaper sees strategic calculations behind the decision: "The EU has eased visa regulations for Europe's last dictator, the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The decision was made by diplomats as a sign of improved relations between Minsk and Brussels and perceived as an attempt to foster democracy in the former Soviet republic. But we must not forget that the coin has two sides: this decision is motivated by something else. Belarus lies on one of the main routes for Russian energy supplies to Western Europe. In times when the West is being shaken by a financial crisis and dependency on liquid fuel is increasing, the need to improve relations through strategic means grows greater."

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