On June 19, the European Union issued a statement, urging the Belarusian authorities to ensure a meaningful and competitive political contest in the context of the upcoming presidential elections. The EU expects Belarus to officially invite the OSCE/ODIHR to monitor the elections as soon as possible.
“No potential candidate should be prevented from fulfilling the registration procedure due to politically motivated restrictive measures,” EU officials state.
In the statement, the European External Action Service referred to Thursday’s arrest of wannabe presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, and his son and campaign manager Eduard Babaryka. The EU called on Belarusian authorities to immediately release them from pre-trial detention and to guarantee full respect of the rule of law, including a fair and transparent investigation and the right to have access to a lawyer. Any investigation must be impartial and without political pressure, they stressed.
“The Belarusian authorities must respect fundamental freedoms and human rights, in line with Belarus’ international commitments. They must refrain from any restrictions of the rights of potential candidates, avoid any detentions of peaceful protesters, and immediately release all arbitrarily detained activists. Reported cases of ill-treatment of persons detained for their involvement in peaceful protests, including Pavel Sevyarynets, are extremely worrying,” the statement reads.
Today, leading MEPs on EU-Belarus relations have condemned the continued harassment of candidates, opposition politicians and peaceful protesters in the run-up to the presidential election in the country.
We would like to continue the positive cooperation of the past few years, in particular in support of the citizens of Belarus and within the Eastern Partnership. However, Belarusian authorities do not give us much of a choice: if our calls remain ignored, this will have an impact on the future development of EU-Belarus relations,” they warned.
Earlier, Donald Tusk, the leader of the European People’s Party and former President of the European Council, said that Europe would not tolerate the unprecedented brutality of the Belarusian authorities.
The politician also urged EU leaders to raise these issues in contacts with Minsk officials.
“Violence, persecutions and arrests must stop in Belarus!” he said on Twitter.
In his video address, Secretary General of the European People’s Party Antonio Lopez-Isturiz also expressed solidarity with the Belarusian people, who, despite repression and intimidation, defend democracy and free elections.
EU leaders must act and send a clear message to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Slovak MP Miriam Lexmann believes. According to her, such actions must have consequences, including ‘targeted sanctions and termination of all financial support’.
