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Belarusian Popular Front sounds alarm over what it calls threat to Belarus’ political, economic independence

There is a considerable threat to Belarus’ economic and political independence, the Council of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) said in a statement adopted at its meeting in Minsk on May 21.

Referring to Belarus’ currency crisis and the government’s reliance on financial aid from Russia, the BPF leadership warned that the “Kremlin and the tycoons close to it have been given the best opportunity in years to implement their plans concerning Belarus.”

The Belarusian public has almost no information about the content of talks between Minsk and Moscow and agreements reached by them in recent months, the statement stressed. “However, it is obvious that the Kremlin will demand the sale of the most efficient Belarusian enterprises and infrastructure facilities to Russian owners in return for offering political support and turning a blind eye to the presence of political prisoners,” it said.

The BPF Council said that the sale of Belarusian enterprises and infrastructure facilities under “non-transparent conditions” would run counter to “national interests and jeopardize Belarus’ independence.”

The party urged the European Union, the United States and international organizations to exercise pressure on the Kremlin and make it abandon its plans to use Belarus’ economic woes “exclusively for boosting the wealth of Russian tycoons and satisfying its own geopolitical ambitions.”

The BPF leadership warned Russia’s government and businesspeople that “non-transparent privatization agreements concluded amid tough present-day circumstances for the people of Belarus and international isolation caused by the regime’s political crackdown will be subject to review in the future.” //BelaPAN