Andrejeva: Kalesnikava was bought for Belaruskali, I was bought for lifting sanctions from banks. If there were no sanctions, what would they buy us for?
In her first major interview after release, Belsat journalist Katerina Andrejeva expressed her opinion on the "dialogue" with Lukashenka, which Maria Kalesnikava advocates for.
Former political prisoner Katerina Andrejeva noted in the program "Just to Ask" that dialogue with official Minsk is not a new phenomenon, at least for the United States.
"Americans have a dialogue anyway, because when they fly to Minsk, they sit down at the negotiating table. And opposite them sits the head of the KGB. And Lukashenka sits with all of them at the same table," she emphasized.
Commenting on the position of Maria Kalesnikava, who calls on Europe to take a similar step, Andrejeva questions the purpose and means of such interaction.
The journalist is convinced: the only thing that forces the authorities to make concessions and release political prisoners is economic losses from sanctions. She openly calls the process of release a "purchase".
"We all need to understand, very well and clearly realize, that if there were no sanctions, there would be nothing to bargain with. Well, Masha was bought for Belaruskali. I was bought for potash, the lifting of sanctions from banks, and some other, possibly, agreements that the Americans simply did not bring into the public track," —
Andrejeva notes and argues that it is pointless to rely on the moral qualities of the regime's representatives after years of cruelty:
"If this weren't the case, what would they buy us for? To rely on a gesture of goodwill? On humanism? Humanity? What can one count on after five years of simply total, total repression?"
Under such circumstances, according to Andrejeva, the pragmatic approach demonstrated by Donald Trump is the only way "to get close to Lukashenka, seat him at the table" and offer a deal, given that Belarus's economy has suffered greatly from sanctions.
"I see that they have indeed suffered from the sanctions that were introduced due to their own actions: through the detention of people, through the fact that Belarus became a springboard for the introduction of Russian troops in '22, through complicity in this aggression. It would be impossible to bargain for anything else. What options can it [America] offer? Just to sit at the table? Without preconditions?" — believes the former political prisoner.
Comments
А за одну Андрееву вообще ничего бы не предложили, не тот калибр, что у Колесниковой