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EU increasingly concerned about situation in Belarus, says EU commissioner

The European Union is increasingly concerned about the human rights situation in Belarus, EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said Wednesday, speaking on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton at a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, BelaPAN said.

“Over the last months, the situation has gone from bad to worse with further repressive measures and policies towards civil society and the political opposition,” said Mr. Piebalgs at a debate on Belarus held within the framework of the EP’s session.

The EU is above all concerned about the imprisonment of 12 political prisoners, he said, noting that the presence of political prisoners in the heart of Europe was unacceptable.

He said that reports of the use of torture against political prisoners in Belarus caused another serious concern.

The Belarusian authorities should put an end to all harassment of civil society and the political opposition, stop violating their right to freedom of movement, and revoke the recent “draconian” amendments that have tightened restrictions on the freedom of assembly and association and introduced harsher punishment for political parties and NGOs receiving foreign aid, said Mr. Piebalgs.

Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty, which the EU believes is also unacceptable, he said.

He said that the EU remained committed to the defense of its values – human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. Sanctions are an important instrument to keep up political pressure on the Lukashenka regime, he said, noting that the EU Council was expected to blacklist Belarusian businesses supporting or benefiting the Lukashenka regime at its meeting on March 23 after broadening last month the criteria for imposing sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities.

The policy is not directed against Belarus or its population, and the EU is still ready to develop bilateral relations with the country, depending on the progress made by the authorities toward respect for the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, said the EU commissioner.

In addition, he said, the EU is ready to begin talks on visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Belarus. “It is regrettable that the Belarusian authorities have so far failed to our invitation to start negotiations,” he said.

Mr. Piebalgs pledged that the EU would step up its cooperation with civil society and the political opposition in the country through a “European dialogue on modernization,” scheduled to be launched in Brussels on 29 March in Brussels.

“The EU and its member states want to reach out to Belarus and to share their successful experience of transition to democracy and market economy,” he said. “Once conditions are ripe, the EU will also be ready to provide the right conditions for EU companies and financial institutions to support the country's transformation and to invest in Belarus' future privatization process.”

Commenting on the ongoing diplomatic row between Minsk and Brussels, the commissioner said that the EU remained “committed to a unified and coordinated approach” toward the possible return of EU ambassadors to Belarus.

On March 15, the EP was scheduled to vote on a resolution calling for moving the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship from Belarus to a different country.

Almost all who spoke at the Wednesday debate on Belarus supported the proposal. Mr. Lukashenka is unworthy of the world championship in his country, stressed MEP Kristina Ojuland of Estonia.