On Tuesday 20 June, at this week’s summer plenary session in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe discussed the situation of Belarusian opposition activists in exile and adopted a resolution calling for greater practical and legal support for them.
As a symbolic gesture, the debate was preceded by a concert by the “Volny Chor”, a group that grew out of the rallies organised by musicians at the Belarusian State Philharmonic in August 2020, following the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko.
They were joined by other groups from Minsk.
Now based in Berlin, these artists performed wearing masks for fear of reprisals.
“The Volny Chor means a lot to me, because one of their songs was written by my husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, who sent his poem from prison”, said Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, who was present at subsequent debates on the report that was tabled by Paul Galles (EPP) from Luxembourg.
She described the report as “visionary”, because it distinguishes between the people and the regime and works to make “Europe safer“.
Adopted by 87 votes in favour with 3 abstentions, the report sets out a series of practical recommendations aimed at facilitating legal entry, residence and travel in the EU for exiles and their families, taking measures to protect them from reprisals, and ensuring that they are able to access their bank accounts and run businesses.
Support for civil society and lawyers in exile, access to education for children in exile, and the promotion of the Belarusian language and culture are also being encouraged. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)