On Thursday 8 February, strongly condemning the recent wave of mass arrests in Belarus, MEPs called for the “immediate unconditional“ release and compensation of more than 1,400 political prisoners, their families and other people arbitrarily detained.
In the joint resolution it adopted (459 votes in favour, 14 against and 33 abstentions), the European Parliament also called on the EU and the international community not to recognise the results of parliamentary and local ‘elections’ in Belarus, scheduled for the end of February, because of their lack of “transparency, freedom and fairness“.
Parliament has called on the EU High Representative and the EU Council to respond to the situation by imposing tougher sanctions on the Lukashenko regime, including against assets derived from the forced labour of political prisoners, tougher financial sanctions and sanctions against those responsible for serious human rights violations. It also called for a further reduction in Belarus’ diplomatic presence in the EU and for continued support for victims of the regime.
During the debate on Wednesday 7 February, Commissioner Helena Dalli, on behalf of the High Representative, pointed out that the EU had introduced restrictive measures against the perpetrators of human rights violations. “We are committed to working on other listings”, she added.
See the resolution https://aeur.eu/f/arg (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)