Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-25-Speech-3-358"
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"en.20090325.29.3-358"2
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"Mr President, Prime Minister, Commissioner, I agree with the Commissioner that the Council decision to extend sanctions against Belarus by a year and simultaneously to suspend them for nine months was a sensible solution. We are inviting Belarus to cooperate with us, but we have not forgotten that it is still the last undemocratic country in Europe.
Despite the positive changes which have taken place recently in Belarus and which Mr Vondra spoke about, it cannot be said that fundamental human rights are respected there, such as freedom of speech, the right to express political views, or respect for national and religious minorities. In spite of this we are offering Belarus participation in the Eastern Partnership, because we believe that this will bring benefits, first and foremost to the people of Belarus.
The Eastern Partnership means the chance for cheaper visas, better economic cooperation and financial support for civil society. These are ways in which Belarus can profit from the new policy, after many years of isolation. On the cost side, however, there is undoubtedly a cynical abuse of our good will in order to lend credibility to undemocratic rule. The Belarusian Government, which controls the main mass media and uses them not for information but for propaganda, is already announcing triumphantly that the European Union accepts the ‘Belarusian model’, in which democracy and freedom can be restricted. In this Chamber we must state unequivocally that Belarusians have the same rights as the citizens of other free European countries, and this includes the right to demonstrate freely in Minsk today, on the 91st anniversary of Belarusian Independence. Participation in the Eastern Partnership is intended to help them realise those rights, and if the Belarusian authorities stand in the way of this they will not be able to count on partnership and good relations with the West, especially not at the high level which Mr Vondra mentioned, and especially not when we are thinking about the Prague Summit in May, which is about the Eastern Partnership.
As long as political activists remain under arrest in Belarus, as long as young democratic opposition activists are forcefully conscripted, and as long as demonstrations are forcefully broken up by the militia and independent journalists are fined for their words and publications, the leaders of Belarus do not have the right to expect partnership and a conciliatory approach from European leaders, from the Council, the Commission and our Parliament."@en1
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