On Thursday 19 April, the European Parliament warned that any backtracking on democracy and the respect of fundamental freedoms in Belarus, including an increase in the number of political prisoners, should systematically lead to a clear response from the EU in its relations with the country.
In the joint resolution of the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE and Greens/EFA Groups on Belarus that they adopted, the MEPs thus call for the release of all political prisoners.
They also regret the "disproportionate" response of the Belarusian authorities to the opposition's attempts to organise an unauthorised demonstration during the celebration of Freedom Day on 25 March 2018. This gave rise to dozens of arrests (see EUROPE 11990). Freedom of assembly and association is a fundamental human right, the MEPs state, underlining more generally the need to respect fundamental freedoms.
The European Parliament also calls on the country's authorities to resume work "immediately" on a comprehensive electoral reform, as part of the wider process of democratisation and in cooperation with the international partners. The local elections in February 2018 confirmed the current shortcomings (see EUROPE 11965).
In addition, the MEPs call for the removal of restrictions and for the procedures to register political parties in Belarus to be eased, saying that all political parties must be able to exercise their political activity without restriction. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)