Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-071"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030211.4.2-071"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, we would like to have Belarus as one of Community Europe’s neighbours and, perhaps, one day, as part of it too. Although we may wonder to what extent some countries can become part of Europe, that problem does not exist where Belarus is concerned, for it is in Europe. However, the last assessment of the situation carried out by the Council of Europe a few months ago excludes the possibility of inviting Belarus to join its Parliamentary Assembly. From the point of view of democracy, nothing much has changed, and yet the European Parliament is patiently hoping for an initiative that can further the re-establishment of certain rights. At first, it might even be a case of agreeing on the meaning of individual definitions, for I sometimes have the impression that a dialogue is taking place between deaf people, between two parties who do not understand what the other means by the word ‘democracy’. It is true that there are many reasons why Belarus might want to attach itself to Russia, but it would be in its national interest to maintain a certain balance. The next local elections will, in any case, be measurable evidence of whether any progress has been made in the area of fundamental rights. The abolition of the death penalty, freedom of the press, of association, of religion: these are the minimum conditions, but how long will it take to achieve them so that dialogue can be resumed? In geopolitical terms it makes sense: sooner or later it will happen. An extremely high level of corruption, poverty and disorder catapulted Lukashenko to power in 1994, but his remedy was too brutal: he eliminated some of the corruption but his authoritarian tendencies were combined with the sort of
which had already led to the break-up of the Soviet Union, and there has been little change since then. Let us hope that some progress is made soon."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples