Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-26-Speech-5-032-000"
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"en.20121026.2.5-032-000"2
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".
Madam President, I would like to thank honourable Members for this interesting debate. As I said, I fully share the concerns expressed by Members regarding the political situation in Belarus. Let me reassure you that, together with High Representative and Vice-President Ashton – and I am very glad that this is actually the first occasion for her new managing director, Felipe Fernández de la Peña, who is also dealing with Belarus, to participate in this debate – we will continue to encourage the Belarusian authorities to take steps to fully implement Belarus’s international commitments to democratic principles and human rights.
It is clear that, under these circumstances, we have every interest in seeking to increase the impact of our policies on Belarus. We will continue to call for the unconditional release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners and insist that the development of bilateral relations between the European Union and Belarus remains conditional on progress in the field of human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles. I share your opinion that the forthcoming world ice hockey championship is an opportunity not to be missed for us to make our policy more visible and clear and to have an impact.
Our policy of critical engagement with Belarus is a long-term challenge. The European Union’s policies are principled and have the clear goal of including Belarus in the family of democratic and open nations. However, we know that, for political and economic reasons, bigger changes in this country are likely to take time. We discuss our policy of critical engagement towards Belarus regularly and, as you can see, our policies and messages stay calibrated and balanced.
Thank you very much for the views you have expressed during the debate and for the draft resolution. There have been a number of critical remarks but, in addition to the critical remarks, some concrete suggestions on which we will reflect. In a situation like this, the principled position has to be combined with creative thinking, reaching out to those who would sooner or later deliver on the change.
I also very much appreciate your call in the draft resolution to strengthen the dialogue for modernisation. I believe that, with even greater involvement of the Member States and with your support, we can turn this dialogue into an effective instrument for change.
Let me add a personal remark. Time is not on the side of political prisoners, but I firmly believe that time is on the side of democratic change. Change will come sooner or later. It is inevitable and it is a strong European lesson to a European country."@en1
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