Strasbourg, 17/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - By 499 votes to 20 with 26 abstentions on Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Belarus, calling on President Alexander Lukachenko to cancel the planned referendum on changing the constitution vis-à-vis the number of time a president can return to office (see Europe of 15 September, p.7). The MEPs note that this attempt to extend Lukachenko's term of office by referendum is yet another confirmation of the authoritarian manner in which he rules the country.
The European Parliament urged the authorities of Belarus to ensure that the legislative elections of 17 October would be free, fair, responsible and transparent. The EP argues that any measures taken to eliminate important opposition parties are non-democratic and strongly condemned the attacks meted out indiscriminately by the Belarus regime against the media, reporters, defenders of human rights and anyone else attempting to freely express critical ideas. The MEPs urge the Belarus authorities to immediately release Valery Levonesky, Alexander Vasilyev and Michail Larinich and all other political prisoners. The EP also urges the Belarus authorities to immediately halt the harassment of educational institutes (particularly Minsk University and Jakub Kolas School). The European Parliament urged the Presidency of the EU to call on the Belarus authorities to authorise an EP delegation to travel to the country as observers of the 17 October elections. The EP urges the Commission to establish a special framework for aid for Belarus municipalities sincerely attached to democratic values. During the debate on Tuesday, the only group to oppose the idea of such an observer mission was the IND-DEM.