Council of Europe Secretary General: We need a common position on Belarusian regime

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe calls on the European Union, the Council of Europe and Russia to find a common view on human rights issues in Belarus.

The statement was made by Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland on May 30, REGNUM information agency reports.

Jagland called on the world community to take a common position on the human rights situation in the country. According to him, the problem was that the Belarusian leader had a chance to play on several fields. As for assisting further development of democratic institutions in Belarus, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General urged Brussels, Strasbourg and Moscow to actively coordinate their joint efforts on the country’s authorities.

On May 17, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU High Representatives for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton called official Minsk for an “an immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners”. On May 16, PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu criticized the Belarusian authorities for harassment of the opposition.

Weremidn that the US, Council of Europe and PACE does not recognize Alyaksadnr Lukashenka as a democratically election president of Belarus. Their contacts with official Minsk were limited. The US and EU resumed sanctions against official Minsk since 2011 and extended them in March and May.