The 2019 Human Rights Annual report - Stability and Security in the Mediterranean and the negative role of Turkey - Situation in Belarus (debate)
Andrius Kubilius, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, High Representative, after 26 years of the authoritarian rule of Lukashenko, the Belarusian people are loudly demanding real change in their country, and it can happen on the 9th August presidential elections. It’s a different situation today than it was before. Opinion polls are showing that more than 50% of Belarusians want real change and only a minority want Lukashenko to stay.
The mood of the people of Belarus reminds me of our Baltic Singing Revolution of the 1990s. Belarusian rock bands are coming out with popular songs against the regime. People of the cultural elite are bravely coming out on YouTube with their anti-regime statements. Bloggers are creating a real online network of resistance. And all of them are persecuted by the regime. Lukashenko’s main competitors, Babaryko and Tikhanovskiy, are in prison. During the last months the list of internationally-recognised political prisoners increased to 30, including famous opposition leaders like Pavel Sieviaryniec.
Today we need to send three clear and loud messages. The first to the citizens of Belarus: we are in solidarity with you in your demand for change and we shall defend your right to decide on the change in your country to become a normal a European democratic country. Second, a clear message to Lukashenko and his nomenclatura: if, on 14 July next week, opposition candidates are not registered by the authorities, if political prisoners and candidates are not released from prison, and if the people on the street are threatened and persecuted, there will be sanctions – personal sanctions. And third, a message to ourselves: we need to stand up and to defend the rights of our neighbours.