BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
21/02/2008
Democracy in Belarus
In a resolution on Belarus, MEPs voice concern at the lack of democracy and human rights, express support for opposition figures and urge the Belarus authorities to introduce democratic reforms.
According to the resolution, "the situation of democracy, human rights and the rule of law is not improving in Belarus". The continuing arbitrary arrests of members of civil society and opposition activists and a clampdown on independent media "contradict the recent rhetoric of the Belarusian Government concerning their wish to improve relations with the European Union".
The EP urges the Belarus authorities to "stop using intimidation, harassment, targeted arrests and politically motivated prosecutions against the activists of the democratic opposition and civil society in Belarus" and "condemns the fact that Belarus is the last country in Europe which still practises the death penalty".
Belarus must comply with EU's conditions in exchange for closer ties
Recent moves on establishing the Commission's delegation in Minsk are welcomed as a step towards renewing dialogue with the European Union. However, the EP recalls that in November 2006 the EU declared its readiness to renew its relationship with Belarus under the European Neighbourhood Policy "as soon as the Belarusian Government demonstrates respect for democratic values and for the basic rights of the Belarusian people".
Belarus must thus accept certain conditions, including "the release of all political prisoners, abolition of the death penalty, the assurance of free media and freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary and respect for democratic values and for the basic rights of the Belarusian people". The resolution also urges Belarus to implement OSCE standards in organising the parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 September 2008.
Easier access to visas, support for civil society
MEPs want the Commission and Council to take further steps to liberalise visa procedures for Belarusian citizens, so as to facilitate people-to-people contacts. At the same time they deplore the decision of the Belarus authorities to repeatedly refuse entrance visas to MEPs and national parliamentarians in the last couple of years.
They also call "on the Commission and Council and the international community as a whole to extend more support to the civil society of Belarus and, in particular, to increase financial aid to the independent media, to non-governmental organisations and to Belarusian students studying abroad".
Solidarity with Milinkevich and all Belarusian democrats
The EP has made numerous efforts to highlight the situation in Belarus in recent years, twice awarding its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to citizens of that country: to the Belarus Association of Journalists in 2004 and to opposition leader Aleksander Milinkevich in 2006.
In today's resolution, MEPs express "solidarity with the united democratic opposition of Belarus and the leader of the democratic movement, Aleksander Milinkevich, and all Belarusian citizens who strive for an independent, open and democratic Belarus based on the rule of law".
Source:
Archive
