On Wednesday 15 March, MEPs once again condemned in the strongest possible terms the repression carried out by the Belarusian regime, calling for its immediate end and for respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights.
In the joint resolution adopted by the EPP, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, S&D and ECR Groups (557 votes in favour, 25 against and 40 abstentions), MEPs call for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons arbitrarily detained, arrested or convicted on political grounds. The EU Council and the Commission should identify new ways to work towards the release of all political prisoners, says Parliament, adding that the EU should provide support and protection to human rights defenders and civil society.
MEPs denounce the sentencing of several human rights defenders and journalists, including the 2022 Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, which “highlights the regime’s efforts to suppress all civic engagement for the defence of human rights and all independent journalistic work in the country”, and the sentencing in absentia of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and other leading figures of the Coordination Council.
MEPs also reiterate their condemnation of Belarus’ involvement in the Russian war in Ukraine.
For Parliament, the EU and its Member States must broaden and strengthen EU sanctions against those individuals and entities responsible for the repression in Belarus or who support the Russian war in Ukraine. It wants measures to be taken to avoid circumvention of sanctions against Russia through Belarus and to mirror the restrictive measures imposed on Russia against the Lukashenko regime.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/5sm
In addition, 102 MEPs have asked in a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin to exclude the Belarusian national football team from the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/5sn (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)