The European Union Democracy Promotion in Belarus

Open Access

Abstract

The aim of the study is to explore the mechanisms of democracy promotion employed by the EU in its relationships with Belarus. The mechanisms of democracy promotion employed by the EU were assessed from the perspectives of leverage, linkage and governance. Putting the governance mode under a special scrutiny the study seeks to prove that activities which are not directly aimed at democracy promotion can lead to a gradual transfer of democratic norms and values. Neo-functionalist theoretical approach is used to explain potential norm transfer through functional cooperation by way of technical and expert assistance on a local level of public authorities in a case study of Belarus. The empirical part of the thesis explores to what degree participation in joint projects within Cross-Border Cooperation the EU makes Belarusian public officials aquatinted with the norms of democratic governance. In so doing, realistic evaluation research method is utilized. The results of the research corroborate the assumption that in the light of failure of traditional top-down forms of democracy promotion, the EU has intensified functional cooperation with Belarus on the bottom-up level. Analysis of the attitudes of the Belarusian officials involved and not involved in joint projects with the EU shows that public officials who have international experience are more prone to the values and principles of democratic governance. Therefore, the main finding suggests that transnational networks created for the purposes of functional cooperation can serve as channels where agents from authoritarian regimes learn democratic values and, as a result, can change their attitude and even behavior towards a more democratic model.