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Antonio López-Istúriz White: Belarus Should Follow European Path

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Antonio López-Istúriz White: Belarus Should Follow European Path
ANTONIO LÓPEZ-ISTÚRIZ WHITE (IN CENTRE)
PHOTO: RADIO SVABODA

The member of the European Parliament has warned the Belarusian authorities that there should be no political prisoners in the country.

In Minsk a member of the European Parliament Antonio López-Istúriz White met with activists of For Freedom movement, the Belarusian Christian Democracy and the United Civil Party, who are to run for seats in the “chamber of representatives.”

On June 30 a conference “Conservative Values In Modern Belarusian Politics” was held in Minsk. The event was organised by the centre-right coalition, which includes For Freedom Movement, the Belarusian Christian Democracy, the United Civil Party, Radio Svaboda informs.

A peculiarity of the conference was a visit of the Secretary General of the European People’s Party, a Spanish MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White and the Secretary of External Relations of the European People’s Party Patrick Voller.

It is the first visit of the European People’s Party’s leadership to Belarus. The European People’s Party is the largest party in the European Parliament. It was created in 1976 and stand at the origins of the European Union. It is based upon Christian Democratic and Conservative values.

As Antonio López-Istúriz White noted, the main reason of European politicians’ interest to Belarus is the fact that the parliamentary “elections” are to take place soon, and they are to take place in the context of lifting European sanctions from Belarusian officials.

“I am here not for fighting with anyone, but for working for the good of Belarus. Populism is gaining momentum now in Europe. The economic crisis, refugees, terrorism – all these things create a burgeoning milieu for populism to thrive. Our party is fighting against populism. Look: now most British are in favour of staying in the EU. They have become victims of populists, who used false data in order to win over the voters. And now people’s eyes are opened – the Secretary General of the European People’s Party said in his speech.

He stressed that Belarus is an extremely important country both for the EU and Russia:

“Belarus is a very important country for the EU and Russia. Belarus is Europe.

We want Belarus to follow the European path of development. But the occupation of Crimea is a reason of problems in Europe. That is why the time for the European Union and Belarus has come now to get a common approach. But not at any price. We should improve and our relations should improve. The EU has already made a considerable step – lifted the sanctions and doubled financing of programmes aimed at Belarus. It is much. You have elections soon. Some people think it is deja vu, that after the electoral campaign we are going to receive the same what happens after every elections in Belarus. But let us work together, not to have such impression after the elections, for something to change.”

The MEP stressed that Europe would pay great attention to how the elections to the “chamber of representatives” in Belarus would be conducted:

“I do not want people to be intimidated for their desire to run as candidates, I do not want to listen about political prisoners, and that democratic representatives are not put on the list of electoral commissions. The entire Europe does not want that. But exactly the Belarusian authorities are to take steps in this direction. I want people have no problems.”

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