European Parliament ready to lift Belarus sanctions in exchange for further concessions
A hearing dedicated to Belarus has been held in the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. European External Action Service (EEAS) Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation and OSCE Gunnar Wiegand and UN Special Rapporteur Miklós Haraszti took part in it. Belarusian human rights defender Valyantsin Stefanovich also made a speech there.
Official Minsk has fulfilled the EU’s main demand – the political prisoners have been released, Gunnar Wiegand said. But it does not mean that the human rights and democracy situation has changed in Belarus. There have been no system changes in this field and the political prisoners have not been acquitted, the diplomat noted.
The European Union’s response to the release of political prisoners is still being discussed in the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the European politician added. The EU will react to this step soon.
UN Special Rapporteur Miklós Haraszti urged not to create illusions about liberalization in Belarus. The Belarusian authorities have released political prisoners many times before elections, he noted. Haraszti suggested avoiding major steps forward before the presidential election in Belarus. “We know the outcome of the election due to the unchanged laws, the human rights situation and immutable election rights. Such an election cannot be fair and free. It has never been fair and free since Lukashenka came to power,” the UN Special Rapporteur added.
The European Union’s steps forwards should follow ‘greater concessions made by the Belarusian authorities’.
Photo: newsbel.by
