Belarus: Neither Europe, nor Russia Opinions of Belarusian elites Stefan Batory Foundation Warsaw 2006 Belarus: Neither Europe, nor Russia Opinions of Belarusian elites Stefan Batory Foundation Sapieżyńska 10a 00-215 Warsaw tel. |48 22| 536 02 00 fax |48 22| 536 02 20
[email protected] www.batory.org.pl Editors Valer Bulhakau, Agnieszka Komorowska Translation Alaksandar Janusik Proof-reading Anna Piątkowska Art director of the Stefan Batory Foundation’s publications Marta Kusztra Graphic design Teresa Oleszczuk Typesetting by TYRSA Sp. z o.o. © Copyright by Stefan Batory Foundation ISBN 83-89406-80-2 This publication is distributed free of charge Warsaw 2006 Contents Introduction 7 Vital Silitski, Dillemas of choice 9 1. What does Europe mean to you? 23 2. Is Belarus (as it is) part of Europe? May be it should strive for it? What Belarus should do to achieve that goal? (Do you consider European community based on common values or a geographic location?) 37 3. What can Belarus offer Europe? 61 4. Should Belarus make a strategic choice? If it should, should it seek closer ties with Russia, the European Union (EU) or former Soviet republics? Are these choices mutually exclusive? What should be done to put them into practice? 81 5. Does Belarusian identity exist? If it does, how to characterize it? What is a Belarusian identity? What does it mean to be a Belarusian? 111 6. Does the notion‘ Slavic community’/’community of former Soviet peoples’ exist? 137 7. What do you think of Russia’s policies with regard to Belarus? 159 8.