Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-063"
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"en.20030211.4.2-063"2
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"Mr President, I wish to thank Mr Marset Campos for his sterling work on this report, which has been characterised by considerable consensus. It is an extremely important debate that Commissioner Patten is drawing to our attention here. The European Union is now going on the offensive and, in its relations with Belarus, is active in a quite different way than it has been in the past. We demonstrably have a pariah state at our borders. In spite of this, it is important that a structured dialogue with Belarus be instituted, as pointed out in a number of amendments by, for example, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats. Mr Patten intimates what might be the shape of that dialogue. As the European Parliament, it is our task to demand that a structured dialogue of this kind be brought about. What are at stake are cross-border and domestic policy matters of common interest, such as illegal immigration, the sex trade and trafficking in human beings, including women. It is also a question of the European Union’s now adopting a structured approach to instituting discussions and of its putting pressure on the Belorusian authorities, not by isolating them but through active engagement and discussions with them.
I believe that the European Union ought in actual fact to give priority to Belarus in the present situation. Especially in view of the fact that the European Union is so divided in its view of Iraq, it is perhaps a matter of additional urgency that the common foreign and security policy, which was set out in the Treaty of Maastricht and which is now in pieces, be given a dimension relating to Belarus. Precisely now, when we are divided within the European Union, we ought to unite around those areas in which we can take vigorous action. I think we should engage in some self-examination and ask ourselves the question: have we been sufficiently vigorous and energetic when it comes to Belarus?
Belarus suffers from huge problems, of course. These include a leader who is quite consciously governing his country dictatorially; the disappearance of opposition politicians and others of whose fate we are unaware, such as Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovksy and Yuri Zaharenko. Other problems are a lack of freedom of association, whereby the regime attempts to control the trade unions; legislation governing religious freedom that limits the right of various new evangelical churches to operate freely in that country; and, in addition, politicians who not only disappear but are also imprisoned. We must nonetheless apply a strategy towards the Belorusian authorities that involves our saying: ‘we are not going to isolate you but, rather, conduct a dialogue with you’. Belarus has itself chosen the isolation to which it has been exposed. Let us join forces within the EU in the interests of new relations with Belarus, involving demands for democracy and human rights."@en1
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