Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-10-Speech-4-202"
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"en.20050310.24.4-202"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, fortunate and independent countries have a tendency to forget the fate of those not equally blessed. Tibet was the subject of debate in the House today. Luckily, Tibet and the Dalai Lama do not allow themselves to be forgotten. They send out constant reminders of their existence. I have to say that my country’s history was equally bitter. In the nineteenth century Europe often tried to forget that the Polish people existed and had a right to independence. Only the many Polish uprisings kept the so-called Polish issue alive and ensured Poland was not forgotten.
In more recent history, the world largely forgot about the whole area of Europe that found itself under a Communist yoke after the 1945 Yalta Conference. Then came 1989, the fall of the Communist regime in Poland, followed by the fall of the Berlin Wall. I should remind the House that the fall of Communism in Poland preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall. There followed happy times for Poland. We now need to realise that what lies beyond the eastern border of the present European Union is not another planet but our own back yard. When the people of Ukraine claimed their independence, the European Union managed to demonstrate its support. The same should happen now. The responsibility for defending the Belarussian nation and its right to genuine independence, rather than a semblance of independence controlled by Mr Lukaschenko and his cronies, rests on our shoulders.
It is important to realise that whilst combating his people, Mr Lukaschenko is also combating their culture and religion, notably the Catholic religion. There are many Catholics in Belarus, and Catholicism tends to be identified with independentist and pro-Western tendencies. The expulsion of Catholic priests has become standard practice in Belarus. That is why we must offer every support to the people of Belarus as they seek their freedom."@en1
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