Audronius Ažubalis: Lithuania will support civil society in Belarus

Lithuania will further support the Belarusian civil society.

On 4 February at the international conference “Belarus International Implementers Meeting” in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis stated that Lithuania would continue to actively support the civil society in Belarus.

“Vilnius is the closest capital to Minsk, and this circumstance creates great opportunities for Belarusian non-governmental organizations and civil society activists to set up and work from a distance, implementing various initiatives. Lithuania has consistently supported the Belarusian civil society and will certainly continue to do so in the future,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

The Minister also stressed that Lithuania was ready to cooperate with other states in implementing joint programmes on Belarus, to join the efforts of donors and to consistently aim for better results.

Minister A.Ažubalis mentioned the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 31 January in Brussels, during which the EU foreign ministers decided to impose travel restrictions and an asset freeze against representatives of the regime in Belarus, however, at the same time the ministers committed to open up to the Belarusian civil society.

According to the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania aims to have the EU address the issues of the facilitation of Schengen visa issuance for Belarusian citizens and to open negotiations on this issue in the short run.

Minister A.Ažubalis highlighted the increased significance of the unique Vilnius-based European Humanities University (EHU). In his opinion, this university in exile is one of Lithuania’s main directions of support for the Belarusian youth.

“One of the best EU projects – the EHU activities will have to be strengthened, especially if there will be new expulsions of students and teachers from Belarusian universities,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

According to the Foreign Minister, support for the Belarusian civil society has to be more visible and effective. Only in this way, favourable environment for certain democratic changes and alternatives will appear in Belarus. The Minister mentioned intentions to resume activities of the Democracy and Development Assistance Fund, which was established in 2007. The Fund would provide assistance for persecuted persons.

As the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), head of the Lithuanian diplomacy stated that Belarus had to more actively cooperate with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. He also expressed hope that the Belarusian Government would reverse the decision to terminate the mandate of the OSCE Office in Minsk.

The co-organizers of the ongoing conference in Vilnius on February 3-4 are the Eastern Europe Studies Centre in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania.