Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-22-Speech-4-182"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080522.29.4-182"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus deserves to be criticised for using repressive methods, arresting political opponents, using authoritarian governing methods, censorship and isolation of the country. In addition to that, the refusal to grant entry visas prevents Members of the European Parliament and of national parliaments from seeing the situation for themselves. All this is highlighted in my Group’s motion. However, I think that our criticism of breaches of human rights must be measured by absolute criteria, rather than following a political scale of who in the world plays first fiddle at the moment. That is not right. We keep running around in circles; we have not been able to take a step towards objectivity for millennia. The Romans were always right and their chroniclers painted it as a wrongdoing when an attacked opponent was bold enough to defend himself.
Let me get back to Belarus, however. Lukashenko’s regime is first and foremost an attempt to disrespect the direction in which the Euro-Atlantic initiatives are going. Mr Lukashenko plays in his own narrow field, ignoring the fact that moderate-sized countries cannot behave like that since supranational capital will not allow it. If you do not obey, you will be isolated and the international community will support the opposition within the country. That is how it works and we all know it. Sooner or later Mr Lukashenko and his party machine will pay dearly for acting in this manner. Belarus is located in an area that is strategically important for the Unites States and for NATO. The present US Administration and the governments of some other countries would very much like Belarus to join NATO, together with Ukraine and Georgia, thereby causing damage to Russia.
Our worries about human rights in Belarus would not be so intense if, in fact, the real issue was not Russia. The question is, however, whether attempts to weaken Russia help the issue of world security. I am rather afraid that such attempts may unleash powers that no one will be able to control. Russia has been suppressing them for several millennia."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples