European Parliament: International aid to Belarus should be defended from regime’s abuses

The European Parliament called on the European community to continue rendering help to Belarus in rehabilitation of the regions, suffered from the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident. The declaration on post-Chernobyl situation in Belarus, adopted on the results of the conference in the European Parliament on 17 March, says it. The document stressed that international aid to Belarus should be defended from the regime’s abuses.

As Professor, Doctor of Medicine Yury Bandazheuski, initiator of the conference, living in Vilnius now, said to BelaPAN, the declaration also calls on the European community to pay special attention to the state of Chernobyl disaster liquidators.

The document emphasised the independent channels of distribution of financial support for rehabilitation of contaminated areas of Belarus should be created and defended from control and abuses by authoritarian regime. The European Parliament called on the European Commission to exert every reasonable effort to make projects and EU financial support to Belarus transparent and effective.

The EP has also called on the Belarusian government to ensure social guarantees and medical care to citizens, suffered from the Chernobyl disaster. The declaration stresses that the population of the country needs to have clear, comprehensive and unequivocal information about the disaster itself and its consequences.

The adopted document marks the necessity for the European community to monitor and research Chernobyl disaster consequences, influencing health of people and environment of the states – EU members; welcomes a proposal to create an international scientific and research center “Ecology and Health” in Lithuania and organise an international syndicate of aid to liquidators.

At the same time, as the declaration says, the authoritarian nature and policy of self-isolation of the Belarusian regime creates additional obstacles on the way to effective overcoming of post-Chernobyl disaster consequences and doesn’t allow developing of the cooperation with the EU on a range of issues.

According to Y. Bandazheuski, a question the right for protection of health, damaged by long-term radiation exposure, caused among others, by the Chernobyl accident, was raised in the European Parliament for the first time.

“The conference had determined concrete steps on helping people, suffering from radiation consequences. These steps are creation of the Ecology and Health center, aimed at life sustaining of a person and a syndicate of aid to liquidators, who will assert their rights,” the scientist emphasised.

The hearing was attended by the delegation of the Belarusian society: former political prisoner Professor Yury Bandazheuski, member of the organising committee of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Mikhail Marynich, academician Ivan Nikitchanka, deputy head of the Belarusian Popular Front party Vintsuk Vyachorka, chairman of the “Union Belarus-Chernobyl” public association Alyaksandr Vauchalin, lawyer Harry Pahanyaila, and representatives of the Belarusian embassy in Belgium.