Руслан Варанков. Скриншот видео
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has outlined the reasons for protests in European countries and alleged that authorities’ actions toward protesters in Belarus and EU countries are assessed differently.
Asked about Belarus’s stance on Paris’s attempts to portray the protests as an internal matter for France, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ruslan Varankou said that Belarus does not interfere in the country’s internal affairs but has the right to express its views.
“Belarus does not interfere in France’s internal affairs and has not the slightest need to do so. We assess the situation and, like any state, have the right to speak out on international platforms whose mandates cover these issues. To put it plainly, we can say what we like and what we do not,” Varankou noted.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry representative said there was no common approach or uniform standard for dealing with different countries.
“The fundamental problem lies elsewhere: the line between ‘one’s own’ and ‘others’ is shifting. It moves depending on who is involved, when it happens and in which country, rather than on the commitments that have been made. Either universality means equal openness to scrutiny, or non-interference is applied equally to everyone. Combining the two approaches depending on the circumstances calls into question whether uniform standards exist at all.
Paris, which publicly claims to be a benchmark in this area, is probably setting an example in this way and justifying similar repressive actions by authorities against unrest in any country in the future. We will take note of this,” Varankou said.
Commenting on the actions of authorities in response to protests across Europe more broadly, Varankou said law enforcement actions were assessed differently from one country to another.
“Let us look at the situation from the outside. Laws governing mass events exist everywhere. The question is how they are applied and assessed. When bans and curfews are imposed in Europe and protests are forcibly dispersed, this is described solely as an internal matter and a necessary measure. One need only look at the map: in France, a demonstrator has died and teenagers have been injured; in Italy, participation in an unauthorized gathering carries criminal liability and teenagers have been detained; in Spain, tear gas and rubber bullets have been used; in Portugal, tent camps have been dismantled and people arrested.
All of this is presented as an internal matter. But when similar measures are used in other countries, the rhetoric instantly changes to the opposite,” he said.
According to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, the causes of protests in European countries are domestic and stem from rapidly rising military spending.
“The reasons behind the current protests — the cost of living, housing issues and underfunding of social services — are very real, originate within these countries and are not instigated from abroad. A distortion in budget priorities is evident: military spending is growing faster than investment in the social sphere, while references to a mythical ‘threat from the east’ no longer convince the public.
European capitals present themselves as benchmarks of democracy. It will be all the more interesting to see how they address these situations in accordance with the law and their own standards, including investigating every instance of excessive use of force and holding those responsible accountable. We will continue to follow assessments by relevant international organizations, including the OSCE and the UN Human Rights Office, and hope they will be objective, although past experience gives us reason to doubt their impartiality,” Varankou said.