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EU's response to post-election situation in Belarus should be harsh, consistent, Milinkevich says

The European Union’s response to the post-election situation in Belarus should be harsh and consistent, opposition leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich said at a meeting of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee in Brussels on Wednesday.

The leader of the Movement for Freedom who ran for president in 2006 called on the EU to use all possible tools of political and economic pressure on Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime.

It is important for the European Parliament and the European Commission to synchronize their positions to ensure that all European countries share their views on Belarus’ poor human rights record, he stressed.

But Mr. Milinkevich warned that the pressure should not result into the isolation of Belarus. The EU should pursue a different policy regarding the Belarusian people to keep the door open for them if the authorities move to isolate themselves, he said.

After the EU responds harshly, Mr. Lukashenka will surely say that Europe has turned its back on the Belarusians, and the EU should show that it has not done so regarding ordinary Belarusian citizens, the politician said.

Mr. Milinkevich expressed confidence that broader support of civil society and the independent media in Belarus would be the most efficient sanction against Mr. Lukashenka’s regime. //BelaPAN