The EU has commenced a new, pragmatic stage of relations with Belarus: in February, Javier Solana met Alexander Lukashenka; now, the Belarusian president has been invited to a summit in Prague. Economic factors and the EU’s fear of “losing” Belarus to Moscow are likely to be the foremost reasons for the change of tack.
Julija Narkeviciute
is project manager of the Civil Society Development and Cooperation Division of Eastern European Studies Centre (EESC), www.eesc.lt