The European Parliament called for a “swift” extension of the list of six senior Nicaraguan officials sanctioned by the European Union since May 2020 for their involvement in political repression and “to include in particular the President and Vice-President of Nicaragua and their inner circle”, in a resolution adopted without the support of The Left group (629 votes in favour, 19 votes against, 40 abstentions) on Thursday 8 July (see EUROPE 12756/9).
MEPs strongly condemn the repressive actions against opposition parties, journalists, students, indigenous people, human rights defenders and civil society.
The Nicaraguan government is under pressure to lift the state of siege, disarm the paramilitary forces, reform the electoral law, and repeal punitive laws in order to meet basic democratic standards.
In Parliament’s view, it is necessary to maintain the EU’s support for civil society and the people of Nicaragua through the Union’s development and humanitarian programmes.
Parliament also reiterated its call for the use of the democracy clause in the Association Agreement between the EU and Central American countries, which has been in force since May 2014 (see EUROPE 11076/28).
Two amendments from the Identity and Democracy group were rejected. The same goes for The Left group’s amendment proposing Parliament’s support for the deployment of an electoral observation mission to Nicaragua for the presidential elections in November.
See the resolution: https://bit.ly/3jZKlRU (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)