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The good, the bad, and the ambitious: democracy and autocracy promoters competing in Belarus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2015

Katsiaryna Yakouchyk
Katsiaryna Yakouchyk*
Affiliation:
Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics, University of Passau, Passau, Germany
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

How do China, Russia, and the European Union (EU) facilitate or hinder political liberalization in Belarus? In this paper, using the qualitative case study method, I primarily highlight the competition that the EU faces with the Russian active autocracy promotion in Belarus. The EU provides aid only in exchange for promise of democratic and economic reforms, which might be very costly and danger the persistence of ruling elites. Russia, at the same time, offers economic and diplomatic support to Belarus, which is, however, conditioned by privatization of the Belarusian strategic assets in favor of Russian stakeholders. I also claim that China, with growing international ambitions, passively supports autocracy in Belarus, by providing financial aid without interfering with internal political affairs. For Belarus, whose leadership still enjoys legitimation by a large part of the population due to the economic stability, losing major state enterprises might weaken sovereignty. Thus, diversification of economic partners is of crucial importance for Belarus. I argue that Belarusian ruling elites may have found an escape away from democratic and autocratic pushes from the EU and Russia, respectively, by increasing linkages with China. To promote effectively democracy in its neighborhood, the EU ought to reconsider interactions with external non-democratic actors. The paper concludes by providing some policy recommendations for the EU.

Keywords

European Union (EU)RussiaChinademocracy promotionautocracy promotion
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 195 - 224
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2015 

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