Hijacking and arrest for journalist Raman Pratasevich. Poisoning and imprisonment for opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Fabricated charges and show trials for historian Yuri Dmitriev, artist Yulia Tsvetkova, and other civic rights activists. Trial and penal colony for the editors of the Russian student journal DOXA. Arrest and torture for hundreds of peaceful protesters. Murder for multiple political activists. Continuing occupation of parts of Ukraine. Threats of detention, molestation, and death for hundreds of thousands who dare to speak up publicly against these measures.
This is the astoundingly dark menu of brute state violence that the Russian and Belarusian authorities are offering today to their subject populations. Political leaders across the world are condemning this violence. Experts are monitoring the violations of human rights, domestic laws and international treaties. But closed airspaces, attempted boycotts and empathic statements of support do not suffice. What we need is a holistic approach that complements traditional politics by engaging citizens rather than governments, creating new opportunities rather than limiting established relations. In a word, we need carrots rather than sticks.
The European Union and its member-states should review its policy toward its Eastern neighbours and reinvigorate its established bodies such as the Council of Europe and Eastern Partnership. Their ambitions should be revised, competencies expanded and resources strengthened.
