Clare Daly (The Left). – Mr President, I was a shop steward and a trade unionist all my working life. I stand against the repression of trade unionists everywhere. And this resolution could have done that in relation to Belarus, where the scale and nature of the arrests of trade union leaders is clearly a violation of the right to organise, and something which I utterly condemn.
But yet again, what we have is an urgent social issue being contorted beyond recognition for geopolitical point scoring. We’ve a motion welcoming further sanctions on Belarus, which, contrary to the statements of solidarity, is going to inflict further economic hardship on Belarusian citizens. It talks about Belarus having to maintain its neutrality, while at the same time ordering direct support to the Belarussian opposition, not to mind forcing other countries who are neutral to abandon that and join NATO.
Could we ever have a day in here – just one, maybe – when this Parliament didn’t instrumentalise human rights? It’s an absolute joke, which is why I abstained.
Mick Wallace (The Left). – Mr President, the resolution on the detention of trade union leaders in Belarus welcomes the Commission proposal for a six—sanctions package on Russia and Belarus, and calls on the Council to ensure its comprehensive and swift implementation.
The resolution also calls for a strict mirroring of the sanctions issued against Russia to Belarus and their appropriate application also in the case of all future rounds of sanctions. Well, so much for solidarity with Belarusian workers! Sanctions don’t work. US sanctions on Cuba have failed to deliver regime change after 62 years. 400 000—plus people died in Iraq because of sanctions, and all for nothing. The sanctions achieved nothing, only death and destruction. Sanctions hurt ordinary people, they hurt the poorest people.
Discrimination against trade union membership and the imprisonment of trade unionists should, of course, be condemned in Belarus and everywhere else. But calling for crushing sanctions is not an expression of solidarity with the working people and working class of Belarus.
Eugen Tomac (PPE). – Domnule președinte, Belarusul, din păcate, este un alt stat capturat astăzi și condus de către un tiran care răspunde doar la ordinele lui Putin. Vedem cum s-a aliniat în situația aceasta legată de război și susține atrocitățile Rusiei în Ucraina.
Și mai grav este că continuă represaliile împotriva propriilor cetățeni, încălcând flagrant drepturile omului, iar instituționalizarea terorii în Belarus reprezintă un semnal de alarmă pentru că pedeapsa cu moartea împotriva oricui, oricărui opozant politic este o chestiune extrem de gravă și aici trebuie să acționăm cu mult mai multă fermitate pentru a opri această încercare de a pune în paranteze complet acest stat și a-i tortura pe oameni doar pentru că au o altă opinie decât acest tiran numit Lukașenko.