Preview

Outlines of global transformations: politics, economics, law

Advanced search

Byelorussia's Relations with the European Union and the United States (1992-2018): from Distancing to Drift to the West

https://doi.org/10.23932/2542-0240-2019-12-2-71-97

Abstract

The article examines the development of relations between Byelorussia and the European Union and the United States of America in 1992-2018. Since the mid-90s the Byelorussian political situation has been criticized by the West. The West imposed sanctions against Byelorussia to force the country to comply with its requirements. In response, Byelorussia began to strengthen integration ties with Russia. To counteract the Russian-Byelorussian rapprochement the European Union began to offer Byelorussia opportunities for integration into Europe. In 2009, Byelorussia became a member of the Eastern partnership. That organization was aimed to act against Russia. The European Union realized that the Byelorussian regime wanted Byelorussia to look like a European country. After the Crimea separation from Ukraine and its accession to Russia, the Byelorussian opposition and government were afraid of Russia capturing Byelorussia, although Russia did not give rise to such fears. The European Union began to cooperate more closely with the official Minsk, not paying attention to the violation of human rights and the presence of political prisoners in Byelorussia. In 2017, Byelorussia voted against Russia in the session of the OSCE parliamentary Assembly. Almost all sanctions were lifted. The United States of America also started treating Byelorussia neutrally, but in mid-90s they imposed sanctions against it. The US were more consistent in the application of sanctions. In 2008, Byelorussia demanded the American Ambassador to leave Minsk. But soon the US and Byelorussia began to look for closer contacts. After 2014, the Americans began to support the anti-Russian phobias of the Byelorussian elite. In 2018, Byelorussia was declared a reliable Bastion against Russian neo-imperialism country. Today Byelorussia seeks to expand contacts with the West to be able to distance itself from Russia. Maneuvering between the West and Russia is necessary for the Byelorussian President to maintain his power.

About the Author

A. D. Gronsky
Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Alexander D. Gronsky - PhD in History, Assistant Professor, Leading Researcher.

117997, Profsoyuznaya St., 23, Moscow



References

1. Biketova E.A. (2016) Policy of the Republic of Belarus on Formation of the International Image of the Country and Features of its Perception in Russia and Ukraine (1991-2015). Thesis of candidate of historical Sciences, Barnaul (in Russian).

2. Bogutskij O. (2014) Belarus - Ukraine: a Strategically Significant Neighborhood. Belorusskij ezhegodnik-2014, pp. 99-106. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/belarus-ukraina-strategicheski-znachimoe-sosedstvo, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

3. Dostanko Е.А. (2015) Relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union. Proceedings of the Faculty of International Relations of BSU. Issue 6, pp. 23-26. Available at: http://elib.bsu.by/bitstream/123456789/119621/1/dostanko_Trudy2015.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019.

4. Fyodorov A. (2016) Belarusian-American Relations: Changes Are Positive, Prospects Are Vague. Belorusskij ezhe-godnik-2016, pp. 92-100. Available at: https://nmnby.eu/yearbook/get/year-book2016.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

5. Gronsky A.D. (2015) Formation of New Symbols of Victory in Belarus. Society and Ethnopolitics: Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference, Novosibirsk, September 24-26, 2015.P. 3, Novosibirsk: SibAGS, pp. 34-42 (in Russian).

6. Gronsky A.D. (2018) Union State of Russia and Byelorussia: Problems and Prospects. Post-Soviet Space: the Role of an External Factor (eds. Krylov A.B., Kuznetsov A.V., Chufrin G.I.), Moscow: IMEMO, pp. 42-59 (in Russian).

7. Ibragimov A.G. (2018) Union of Russia and Byelorussia in the Context of European Integration: to the Background. Postsovetskie issledovaniya, vol. 1, no 4, pp. 359-367. Available at: https://cyber-leninka.ru/article/v/soyuz-rossii-i-belar-usi-v-kontekste-evrointegratsii-k-istorii-voprosa, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

8. Kosov A.P (2018) The Union State of Belarus and Russia in 1999-2018: the Geopolitical Aspect. Postsovetskie issledo-vaniya, vol. 1, no 6, pp. 537-549. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/soyuznoe-gosudarstvo-belarusi-i-rossii-v-1999-2018-gg-geopoliticheskiy-aspekt, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

9. Kvariani A.Z. (2018) European Union’s Eastern Partnership Program: from Concept to Present State. ARS ADMINISTRAN-DI, no 4, pp. 68-76. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/programma-ev-ropeyskogo-soyuza-vostochnoe-partner-stvo-ot-zamysla-do-sovremennogo-sos-toyaniya, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

10. Loushkin S.A. (2018) Relations of Belarus and the EU in the Context of the Crisis in Ukraine. Postsovetskie issledovani-ya, vol. 1, no 4, pp. 387-397. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/otnosh-eniya-belarusi-i-es-v-kontekste-krizisa-na-ukraine, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

11. Makej V. (2017) In the Service of the People and the State. Belaruskaya dumka, no 4, pp. 3-13. Available at: https://bel-dumka.belta.by/isfiles/000167_448473.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

12. Minsk Barometer. Monitoring of Foreign Policy and Regional Security (2018). No. 5. Available at: http://minskdialogue.by/Uploads/Files/research/reports/pdf/MB_5%20ru.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

13. Political History of Independent Belarus (2006), Vil’nya: Belarusian Institute (in Belarusian).

14. Sergunin A.A. (2010) “Eastern Partnership”: the Challenge of Russian Diplomacy in Eastern Europe. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no 1, pp. 205-210. Available at: http://www.vestnik.vsu.ru/pdf/lingvo/2010/01/2010-01-48.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

15. The Main Goal Is Unchanged - We Are Building a State for the People (2018). Belaruskaya dumka, no 5, pp. 4-19. Available at: https://beldumka.belta.by/isfiles/000167_38583.pdf, accessed 31.03.2019 (in Russian).

16. Tikhomirov A.V. (2017) Foreign Policy of the Republic of Belarus (1991-2015), Minsk: BSU (in Russian).


Review

For citations:


Gronsky A.D. Byelorussia's Relations with the European Union and the United States (1992-2018): from Distancing to Drift to the West. Outlines of global transformations: politics, economics, law. 2019;12(2):71-97. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.23932/2542-0240-2019-12-2-71-97

Views: 1488


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 2542-0240 (Print)
ISSN 2587-9324 (Online)