OREANDA-NEWS. March 24, 2010. Belarus and the European Union should aim for developing mutual political understanding, said Sergei Maskevich, Chairman of the International Affairs and CIS Relations Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, as he met with representatives of the Berlin Collegium of the German Talented Youth Support Foundation.

“There are no established priorities in Belarus-EU relations. Belarus’ bilateral relations with many EU countries are successful. But there are more questions than answers [in relations] between Belarus and the European Union,” said the MP when asked about Belarus’ perception of the European Union as a political entity. Sergei Maskevich added that the operation of European Union agencies is based on the development and implementation of various programs meant to address common European problems. “Belarus could participate in such programs. Yet it does not happen. The matter could be resolved through mutual political understanding,” remarked the MP.

Speaking about Belarus’ participation in the Eastern Partnership Initiative, Sergei Maskevich said the initiative opens up new opportunities for advancing a mutually beneficial dialogue in the area of politics and economy. He said he expects Belarus to be a full-fledged participant in the program. Promotion of trade and economic relations, creation of favorable conditions for travels (removal of visa restrictions), joint energy industry projects are the most important and topical areas of Eastern Partnership cooperation for Belarus. The Eastern Partnership Initiative does not provide for allocating money but creates favorable terms for building trusts between the countries and improving the investment climate, the MP believes.

Sergei Maskevich said he agrees with the statement that the European Union sometimes uses imperial approaches in its policy. He reminded that not every nation is ready to welcome and accept Western values, traditions, and standards due to national peculiarities, differences in historical and cultural development.

In conclusion Sergei Maskevich pointed out that Belarus is an independent country with a multiple-vector policy. The latter is focused on promoting Belarusian-Russian relations and ties with neighboring countries. “The multiple vectors are important for economic and political considerations. Statements that Belarus gets closer to Europe in preference to Russia are improper. It would be more proper to say that Belarus gets closer to Europe together [with Russia],” the parliamentarian is convinced.

German students also asked questions from Vladimir Zdanovich, Chairman of the Education, Culture, Science, and Technological Advance Commission of the House of Representatives, and parliamentarian Valentina Leonenko.

In turn, students of the Berlin Collegium said that the information they had received will now allow them to draw objective conclusions about the situation in Belarus. “Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to receive exhaustive information about Belarus in Western Europe. Politics of your country is often represented in a biased manner. Therefore we decided to travel to Belarus in order to talk to politicians, students, teachers, representatives of public organizations and receive reliable information at first hand,” explained Denis Mysnik, head of the group of German students, student of the Free University of Berlin. He said that the trip had been organized as part of the project “Belarus – a European country or a dream about Europe? Seeking European prospects” representatives of the Berlin Collegium are implementing.

The Berlin Collegium operation is aimed at promoting European values, sharing knowledge in the area of politics, economics, science, culture, and management with the most talented and promising representatives of the younger generation in European countries. Every year around 30 students from European countries get educated there.