Democracy Promotion at a Dead End
Europe is Failing in Belarus
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
With the Charter of Paris, the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe laid the foundation for a democratic community of values in Europe. But the transformation to democracy in Eastern Europe has ground to a halt. Doctrines of a “strong state” and “managed democracy” are thriving. In Belarus, the authoritarian regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka has rejected every kind of reform efforts. The European Union’s rhetorical expressions of solidarity with the country’s repressed democratic movement are not enough. What is required is a pro-active support of democratic alternatives to this form of authoritarian unconstitutional rule.
(Osteuropa 9/2006, pp. 57–72)