Petras Austrevicius: Minsk Misinterprets Lifting Of Sanctions

The EU should not repeat past mistakes in relations with Lukashenka.

MEP from Lithuania Petras Austrevicius stated this at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg:

"The situation in Belarus does not change. The old problems are not solved. The so-called "elections" were falsified. The death penalty is applied. Independent media are persecuted and blocked.

And the European Union continues to make mistakes in the EU-Belarus relations. Two years ago, when EU lifted some of the sanctions, Minsk misinterpreted that signal. We do not have the right to repeat old mistakes in the negotiations on the Eastern Partnership. Relations with Belarus cannot base only on the Europe's desire to assist financially the development of trade. Our policy must strictly base on the observance of human rights.

Astravets nuclear power plant is a direct threat to security of all Europeans," – Petras Austrevicius said.

We remind that the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation in Belarus at a meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday.

The resolution expresses regret over the persecution of independent journalists and mass media in Belarus during local elections. The blocking of the information portal Charter-97 and the beating of Andrei Kozel, the journalist of the Belsat TV channel, are given as examples. The European Parliament urged to immediately unblock Charter97.org and to abandon measures that threaten freedom of speech.