Contemporary Relations Between Belarus And Germany

Both the continental Europe and the international landscape have undergone dramatic changes in 1990s. A series of historical events, such as drastic changes in eastern European countries, the disintegration of Soviet Union, and the German unification, have exerted far-reaching influence upon the international situation as well as all countries concerned. As two European countries, Belarus and Germany have also gone through tremendous transformations. The disintegration of Soviet Union made it possible for Belarus to step on the world stage and take part in the world affairs, acting as an independent state. The German unification wiped out the "scar" in the European continent, notably enhanced the overall national strength of the country, and removed the unstable factors in Europe. In spite of an unsmooth journey, these two countries have made great progress in bilateral relations.Belarus and Germany exchanged a lot in the history, and established intimate ties between each other. However, these two nations also had feud across the history, which was exacerbated by the two world wars, leaving irreparable wound upon their bilateral relations. The gulf was further widened by their standing in different ideological camps after World WarⅡ. The disintegration of Soviet Union and German unification enabled the two sides to develop bilateral relations at a new historical starting point, inheriting good traditions, expanding new fields, and clearing up the frictions left over by history. Modern Belarusian-German relations were mainly developed in four major areas such as politics, economics, culture and humanity. Certain progress has been made in the establishment of consultative political relations on an equal footing, cooperation in the Belarusian economic reform, close exchanges in culture, and humanitarian cooperation in resolving issues left over by World WarⅡand Chernobyl Accident. Nevertheless, there were still many conflicts and clashes accompanying their cooperation. For instance, Germany harbored resentment toward the current Lukashenka administration, criticized Belarusian political and economic system, and intervened into the human rights and democratic issues in Belarus, impeding the economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation. Certainly there were various factors affecting the bilateral relations, namely, the 1996 referendum in Belarus led to the revision of the constitution; European countries, Germany included, interfered and criticized the internal and foreign affairs of Belarus; the mutual economic value; the role of America and Russia played in their relations; the national sentiment, and so forth. The factors mentioned above are not only important for the present bilateral relations, but also serves as crucial signifiers of the trend for future development. As a stander-by, I draw some experience from the analysis of Belarusian-German relations which is conducive to our foreign affairs.Furthermore, Germany, an important member state in the European Union, is tantamount to EU in terms of their foreign policies, especially in the policy toward Belarus. Therefore, the Belarusian-EU relations are also included in the analysis of Belarusian-Germany relations.