With all eyes on the situation on the EU-Belarus border, the European Union on Monday 22 November reiterated its support for the people of Belarus, who have been facing repression from Alexander Lukashenko’s regime for more than a year.
“We stand by the Belarusian people and their democratic aspirations. In the face of the hardships inflicted by the regime, the EU has come to the aid of the victims of repression and helped support a vibrant civil society”, stressed Neighbourhood Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, at the end of the international conference on Belarus in Vienna.
While the EU has already made more than €33 million available to civil society, Várhelyi announced that the European Commission was preparing a new aid programme. “Our aim is to provide targeted support to civil society, independent media, youth, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the health sector”, he said.
The Belarusians who are fighting “for their rights, for their freedoms, and for a new Belarus need us more than ever”, added Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, who initiated the meeting. “One should not lose sight of the Belarusian people’s struggle for fundamental rights and freedoms”, he insisted, adding that the conference aimed to seek potential mechanisms for an inclusive and meaningful political dialogue.
And while the EU is expected to adopt its fifth package of sanctions “in the coming weeks”, according to Mr Várhelyi, Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has called for a strong crackdown on state-owned companies and banks. According to her, the language of force is the only one that Lukashenko understands.
She also called on Westerners not to talk to the regime, saying it only reinforced its sense of impunity. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)