VOA标准英语10月-Frictions Emerge Between Belarus and Russia

Russia has praised recent parliamentary elections in Belarus while international observers criticized the balloting². In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the relationship between Moscow and Minsk.
　

President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to media after voting at a polling station in the capital Minsk, 28 Sep 2008

Belarus' authoritarian³ President Alexander Lukashenko said the September 28 parliamentary elections were conducted in line with his country's laws and were an important step towards democracy. But observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said they fell significantly short of international standards.

One-hundred-ten seats were at stake with 78 opposition⁴ candidates appearing on the ballot¹. But when the final tally⁵ was counted, not a single candidate opposed to president Lukashenko won a seat.

Russia, Belarus' staunchest ally, defended the election results while criticizing the OSCE assessment⁶.

Robert Legvold from Columbia University, says Mr. Lukashenko is very much dependent on Russia.

"He is dependent on it economically," he said. "He is dependent on it for political and diplomatic support. Each time he holds an election that is not recognized on the outside, the Russians sign off on it. He knows that and indeed the opposition in Belarus knows that in the long-run, the relationship with Russia remains⁷ close.

But analysts⁸ such as Legvold see cracks emerging in the Minsk-Moscow relationship.

"There have been frictions⁹ over energy because he sees the Russians as having been heavy-handed," he said. "The most recent episode of that was last fall, when [Russia's state gas monopoly] Gazprom threatened to cut gas deliveries by half, if the Belarussians did not pay the debt that that they have accumulated for the last six months supply about half a billion dollars. And he was forced to pay that."

In addition, Russia has increased energy prices for Belarus as it has done for other customers, such as Ukraine. Moscow says it wants to end subsidized gas prices and gradually bring them to world market levels.

David Marples from the University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada says Belarus is trying to become less dependent on Russia for its energy supplies but that will take time.

"Belarus has announced the development of its own nuclear power station over the past year, in an effort to offset¹⁰ reliance on Russia for imports of energy," he said. "It is a long term solution and nothing is likely to be operational until 2017 and even that might be an optimistic prognosis. But in the long term, you can tell that Lukashenko would like to be more independent of Russia and have more freedom of maneuver¹¹."

Analysts point to another source of disagreement between Moscow and Minsk and that is Mr. Lukashenko's reaction to Russia's brief war with Georgia in August over the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"Belarus was facing a situation where Russia was putting intense pressure on it to support its moves against Georgia," said David Marples. "And Belarus, for whatever reason - it is hard to read Lukashenko's mind - not only did not really support this campaign of Russia, but it has not recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states - despite Russia not only wanting Belarus to do this, but even announcing that Belarus was about to do this."

"So in that respect, Lukashenko defied Russia and I think this kind of symbolizes¹² his ongoing¹³ disputes with prime minister [Vladimir] Putin and also suggests that his relationship with [president Dmitri] Medvedev is not very good either," he added.

Analysts say frictions between Minsk and Moscow could eventually pave the way for better relations between Belarus and the West, especially the European Union. Experts point out that president Lukashenko has taken positive steps this year, such as gradually releasing all political prisoners, including former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin - a key demand from the West.

But analysts also say Mr. Lukashenko must take other important steps such as allowing free and fair elections before serious discussions with the West can take place. And they say Mr. Lukashenko must be very careful not to take steps that would alienate¹⁴ Russia, which still remains Belarus' closest ally.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

3 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

11 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

12 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。