Since the presidential election on 9 August, the situation in Belarus has been on the agenda of European leaders. Impressive demonstrations continue throughout the country against the re-elected president, Alexander Lukashenko.
On Tuesday 25 August the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee will hold an exceptional meeting to discuss the situation with political opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a refugee in Lithuania, and the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Helga Schmid.
On Thursday 27 and Friday 28, the foreign ministers will return to the subject at their informal meeting in Berlin, less than three weeks after their extraordinary meeting by videoconference on 14 August.
Belarus was even the subject of an extraordinary videoconference of European Heads of State and Government on 19 August. In conclusions, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, concluded that the presidential election had been “neither free nor fair” and that the EU did not recognise the results.
Europeans also condemned “the disproportionate and unacceptable violence used by national authorities against peaceful demonstrators” and called on the authorities to find a way out of the crisis by putting an end to the violence, easing tensions and engaging in an inclusive national dialogue.
“Only a peaceful and democratic process supported by free and independent media and a strong civil society can bring lasting solutions” they argued, believing that all parties, including third countries, should support such a process.
Mr Michel met twice with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Belarus crisis, before and after the video conference of the EU-27, while the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, did the same with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on 21 August.
EU heads of state and government also confirmed the decision of foreign ministers on 14 August to punish “a large number” of those responsible for the violence, the repression of demonstrations and the falsification of election results. Work on sanctions began on 14 August.
EU leaders also warned that the progress achieved in recent years in EU-Minsk relations was under threat and that any further deterioration of the situation would affect relations and have negative consequences.
Despite the announcement of future sanctions, Europeans are ready to contribute to efforts to bring the crisis to a peaceful end. “The EU fully supports the OSCE’s proposals for dialogue in Belarus and is ready to assist in facilitating this”, they said. On 20 August, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also proposed European mediation.
The European Commission, for its part, announced an additional €53 million in financial support “to assist the Belarusian people in these difficult times”, including €2 million to help “victims of repression and unacceptable state violence” and €1 million to support civil society and independent media. The remaining €50 million will go to the fight against Covid-19, for the health sector, such as hospitals or the purchase of medical equipment, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises, vulnerable groups or social services.
See Mr Michel’s conclusions following the videoconference of EU leaders: https://bit.ly/34bScnC (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)