In advance of the 9 August presidential election, the EU called on Belarus on Thursday 23 July to release all political activists arbitrarily detained, to guarantee them access to a lawyer, and to conduct a fair, impartial and transparent investigation in all cases.
According to a communiqué from the European External Action Service, issued during an ad hoc meeting of senior EU and Belarusian officials in Brussels, EU representatives recalled the Union’s concerns about the lack of respect for fundamental freedoms and the apparently arbitrary exclusion of candidates from the electoral process (see EUROPE 12527/22).
They also urged Minsk to meet international electoral standards during the remainder of the electoral process.
In addition, on 22 July, seven Lithuanian MEPs and Lithuanian national MPs called on the EU to reintroduce restrictive measures against the regime and those responsible for “the crackdown on Belarusians for actions undermining the democratic nature of the election”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)