European Commissioner: Belarusian government left us no choice

The report was prepared by MEP Justas Paleckis, Rapporteur on EU policy towards Belarus specially for the European Parliament leadership

According to BelaPAN, Paleckis noted in his speech that "the human rights situation in Belarus continues to remain difficult." However , in his opinion , it is necessary to use the forthcoming Vilnius summit of the Eastern Partnership to improve relations with the Belarusian authorities and resume the political dialogue. However, only in case all political prisoners are released.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle (in the photo) said that the EU was ready for a full-fledged cooperation with Minsk , but only after the release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners. "Seven political prisoners are still in prison. Moratorium on the death penalty is still not introduced. The harassment of the civil society activists and critics of the government is ongoing,"  said Füle.

In this regard , the Commissioner stressed that the EU had no choice but to pursue a policy of restrictive measures towards Belarus. The Council of the EU will revise the policy in October.

At the same time, Štefan Füle said that after the appointment of Uladzimir Makei as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, the country made ​​a number of steps to normalize relations with the EU. The EU has a lot to offer to Belarus , the Commissioner said.

The vote on the resolution is scheduled for September 12.