Expert: EU may invite Lukashenka to Vilnius after political prisoners are freed

Belarus Ambassador in Germany Andrei Giro stated: Minsk expects that an invitation to attend the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius will be addressed to Belarus president Alexander Lukashenka. It is then up to Belarus to decide who from Belarus top officials will be sent to represent the country at the summit.



Yury Shevtsov reckons this scenario is possible.



Shevtsov: "In theory, this is possible, if the people, treated by the West as political prisoners, are freed. That would remove the main condition for normalization of relations between Belarus and Europe."



At the same time, the pundit points to the event that is expected to bring tensions in relations between Belarus and Europe in autumn: a joint Belarus-Russia military exercise on the territory of Belarus. The exercise is planned to take place on the eve of the Eastern Partnership summit. NATO is planned to conduct a military exercise in Poland around the same time. The both exercises will be conducted at the background of tensions in relations between Belarus and European Union. They could affect the normalization of relations between the two partners, reckons Shevtsov.
 

Photo: qwas.ru