Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-024"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040914.3.2-024"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, I am very glad that the Commission understands the significance of the situation in Belarus, and in particular the significance of the electoral campaign currently under way in the country and the forthcoming parliamentary elections. These elections acquired added significance last week with the announcement of a referendum to be held at the same time. This is of course an attempt to maintain the authoritarian rule currently in place, but it is also a tremendous chance for the Belarussian nation; a chance for the Belarussian people to be mobilised and to express their own opinions on the state of human rights and democratic standards in Belarus. It is also a challenge for our common foreign policy.
There appears to be a need for a more courageous approach in the EU’s foreign policy, and for certain tasks and strategic goals to be reformulated. Not only is it very much in the EU’s interest to keep Belarus an independent state, but Belarus’ independence will remain under threat if it is governed in an undemocratic manner. What is more, it will only seemingly be a stable country, and stability in Eastern Europe will only seemingly be guaranteed.
Dictatorships generally fall with a bang rather than by means of velvet revolutions. If the EU’s new eastern border is to be safe, it cannot be an iron curtain, let alone a screen behind which the rich and free cower. Our foreign policy on Belarus must be much more active, which means it must differ from our foreign policy to date.
It was of course right to freeze all programmes under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement after 1996, and it is right to break off contacts with high-ranking officials of the Lukashenko regime, but our policy lacks political will towards Belarussians themselves. I am very pleased that the Commissioner has acknowledged that the aim of the EU’s policy is to support civil society, but together we must develop procedures which prove to be effective.
Democracy in Belarus will not come about of its own accord, and Belarussians must build it themselves, but our task is to help them, and to do so much more energetically than to date. This help should be targeted at specific social and political groups, as well as at local authorities, non-governmental organisations, schools and young people. Its aim should be to support those who are currently planting the seeds of a civil society and democratic politics. Help should also be given to the democratic opposition, which deserves praise for its recent integration into the 5+ coalition. These are our friends. They speak the same language, they have the same values, they think in the same categories and they believe in Europe. I hope that the future belongs to them and that one day they will sit in this very House.
In short, a more active and subtle approach is required, which makes it possible to isolate an undemocratic government without isolating society. The government should be isolated in order to provide positive support to the Belarussian people.
As far as short-term strategy is concerned, there is a need for energetic measures, or in other words the short-term measures to which the Commissioner referred.
Firstly, the current electoral campaign should be observed very carefully, and there should be a rapid reaction to any irregularities, such as the banning of the Labour Party, an event which has already occurred, as well as to the fact that many candidates are refused registration and opposition representatives are not allowed to sit on electoral committees. This election and referendum are so important that our political group, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, is calling in its resolution for an observers’ mission to be sent to Belarus and for a report to be drawn up. We would like this post-election report to also act as an opportunity for a serious discussion on the future shape of the EU’s foreign policy on Belarus."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples