Head Of European Parliament's Subcommittee On Security And Defence Demands To Unblock Charter-97 In Belarus Immediately

MEP from Poland Anna Fotyga has made a statement on the situation in Belarus.

Deputy of the European Parliament from the Polish party Law and Justice, head of the Committee on Security and Defense of the EP and former Foreign Minister of Poland Anna Fotyga is at one with the independent website Charter-97 blocked in Belarus, condemns the ban on the Freedom Day march and draws attention to threats from Lukashenka's regime.

The Charter97.org website gives the full text of the press release distributed by the Bureau of MEP Anna Fotyga:

– The methods of holding elections to local Councils of Deputies in February 2018 have drawn the attention of the European Parliament to the distressful situation with the human rights, civil liberties and to the general political situation in Belarus.

Since 1994, free and fair elections have not been held in Belarus. The recent elections to the local Councils of Deputies have confirmed the lack of Lukashenka's regime’s commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy. Despite the fact that international observers were not invited, Belarusian observers collected mass unambiguous evidence of so-called "merry-go-round voting": activities aimed at inflating attendance by repeat voting.

Other striking examples of violating the basic principles of free and democratic elections include the ban on registering opposition political parties, opposing the nomination of independent candidates and violations in monitoring the voting process and vote counting.

Before the elections, as well as during the time of their conduct, the state apparatus conducted an extensive campaign to intimidate the opposition. The campaign included mass detentions of independent and opposition activists, politicians and journalists, as well as the ban on demonstrations on the occasion of the centenary of the proclamation of Belarus’ independence on March 25, 2018.

On April 19, in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Belarus. On behalf of the group of European Conservatives and Reformers, resolution’s co-author Anna Fotyga, MEP from the party Right and Justice, took the floor.

"Belarus' difficult geopolitical situation cannot serve as an excuse for the use of force and above-ground intimidation of the society. The recent block of access to the Internet site Charter-97 is an example of such actions, " – the head of the European Parliament's Committee on Security and Defense said.

Anna Fotyga also stressed that there could be no excuse for "creating a direct military threat to the neighbors of Belarus, which was the goal of the military exercises West-2017."

The head of the European Parliament's Committee for Security and Defense also noted that the Astravets nuclear power plant poses a serious threat to the environment not only in Belarus, but also in neighboring countries.

In their resolution, co-authored by Anna Fotyga, MEPs stood up for the popular independent website Charter-97 blocked by Lukashenka's regime, demanded from the Belarusian authorities to release the block immediately and unconditionally. The European Parliament called on the European External Action Service and the European Commission to give priority to the safety of the Astravets nuclear power plant, and to make the progress in the EU-Belarus relations dependent on greater openness and more active cooperation, as well as on full observance of the principles of democracy and the rule of law in Belarus.