In the aftermath of new mass demonstrations in Belarus and the arrest of more than 600 people, several members of Belarusian civil society have called on the European Union to do more to help them.
“The voice of the international community and the European Parliament in support of the Belarusian people is needed. They want to live in a democracy, in a society governed by the rule of law”, said Ales Bialiatski, President of the Viasna Centre for Human Rights, at a hearing before the European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights.
“The Belarusian people rise from the ashes like a phoenix. We can only rely on our own strength; no one can shape our future, only we can”, said Alexander Yaroshuk, president of the Belarussian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions. However, he said the Belarusians needed support, assistance “from those who understand that our struggle is very important”.
According to Mr Bialiatski, the EU must also help the Belarusian people, and generalise visa liberalisation.
He also called on Europeans to step up pressure on the Belarusian authorities “to respect international law”, but also on Russia, which supports the regime. He added that “political sanctions”, which the EU may adopt soon, should be targeted at those really responsible for election fraud and repression.
At the hearing, MEPs gave their support to civil society and the Belarusian people. They called for the introduction of sanctions, as did Leopoldo López Gil (EPP, Spain), who called for measures that were “concrete, proportional” to the situation and that “will make it possible to defend democracy”.
According to the Reuters news agency, Member States have agreed to sanction 31 people and these measures are expected to be formally adopted at the Foreign Affairs Council on 21 September.
MEPs also called for an international commission of inquiry and a national dialogue in Belarus.
A dialogue that Mr Yaroshuk found difficult to establish. “Today we are at an impasse. This dialogue is impossible: the authorities are not ready to engage in such a dialogue, no matter what calls they hear”, he explained, believing that “the only solution [was] to resist”. According to him, as long as the coordinating council – of which he is a member – is a “negotiating platform” and not a political body, “the authorities will continue to ignore it and to detain members of this council”.
And, while the draft Parliament report by Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuania) on Belarus is not expected to be adopted until October, the European Parliament wanted to reach an agreement in September on guidelines for the way forward for the EU. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)