At its plenary session on Thursday 30 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe welcomed a delegation representing Belarusian democratic forces, which will henceforth be associated with its work.
“This is a crucial motivation for us and a clear signal of your support to all of us in our struggle for freedom”, declared Angelika Melnikova, a member of the delegation and Chair of the Coordination Council, before recalling the 1,200 political prisoners, including at least 7 tortured to death, in her country, the 11 opposition parties banned, the independent media and NGOs liquidated, and the 300,000 or so Belarusian citizens forced into exile.
During this session, the Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for new elections and denying any legitimacy to Alexander Lukanchenko following his recent victory in the rigged presidential election on 26 January.
The Assembly calls on the member states to step up sanctions against the Minsk regime and to give greater support to the democratic forces in Belarus.
At the Council of Europe, this support took the form of the creation of a “contact group” in September 2022.
Link to the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/fbv (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)