Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-034"
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"en.20040914.3.2-034"2
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"Our role as representatives of the people in our country and in Europe cannot and must not end at the frontiers of the European Union. We must look beyond and must not consider ourselves to be like some fortress with its bastions keeping away all outsiders, but more like a turret that guides us towards values that unite us, especially those of solidarity and democracy. It is in this spirit that we must treat the situation in other neighbouring countries such as Belarus. This is done without assuming that we know everything or that we are definitely more knowledgeable than others. However one can say that in all the countries that we come from, at some time or another, we experienced moments that did not reflect well on our democracy. It is in this manner, as people hardened by such experiences, that I think we can make this appeal
an appeal to the authorities of the country to show respect towards the rights of association and the basic principles of democracy. We show our greatest solidarity towards the Labour Party of Belarus and towards the National Front. The way the government is treating them is not acceptable in today’s society. Our appeal must be one of goodwill. I am convinced, as I think many of you are, that in every organisation in every country there are people of goodwill who know how to distinguish good from evil. I appeal to such persons, especially within the authorities of Belarus and its government to work and do so with all means at their disposal to see that democracy rules. We must be aware that the present situation in Belarus is also our responsibility, due to what we did or what we did not do. We must ensure that the policy that we adopt from now on will not be a reactive one, not one of embargos which, experience shows us, is hardly effective, but one that is pro-active. It must not be a sporadic one but one taken in the framework of a neighbourhood policy, the need for which is felt more now than ever before."@en1
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