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The European Parliament adopted today during the plenary in Strasburg a resolution on the recent developments in Belarus, particularly concerning the treatment of national minorities, especially members of the Union of Poles.

Following the vote EP President Jerzy Buzek said: "The situation in Belarus is a source of serious concern. We have expressed that concern in the resolution today.

The European Parliament expects the relations between Belarus and the EU to develop and flourish. We are neighbours and therefore have common interests. However the ongoing behaviour and attitude expressed by the authorities in Minsk, towards the democratic opposition, independent NGOs and national minorities, including lately the representatives of the Union of Poles, are absolutely unacceptable for the democratic world. The European Parliament condemns them in the strongest terms.

The European Parliament believes that the success of the engagement between the European Union and Belarus is conditional on steps towards democratisation, upholding human rights, minority rights, freedom of NGOs by the government of Belarus. We demand that Minsk commits itself to real change in the area of freedoms, democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, and in particular the rights of national minorities. This is the sine qua non condition for good bilateral relations.

However, the European Parliament also underlines if the Belarusian authorities adhere to fundamental human rights and democracy-related criteria, the country will benefit considerably. It would benefit from the conclusion and ratification of the EU-Belarus Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, it would obtain another tranche of the stabilisation loan from the International Monetary Fund and would be able to use EU financial instruments such as European Investment Bank instruments and the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. Finally it would benefit from the resumption of negotiations on accession to the WTO."

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For further information:
Inga Rosińska
Spokeswoman
Mobile: +32 498 981 354

Robert A. Golański
Deputy Spokesman
Mobile: +32 475 751 663