On October 7, members of the European Parliament approved a resolution on the situation in Belarus. The meeting was broadcast online on the European Parliament’s website.
As many as 506 deputies voted for the resolution, while 29 voted against it and 139 abstained.
New sectoral sanctions and the International Tribunal
In the document, the European Parliament expressed “strong solidarity with Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia, as well as other EU countries recently targeted by the Belarusian regime’s attempts to direct a substantial number of migrants and refugees towards the EU’s external borders.” According to MEPs, the transfer of illegal migrants to the EU with the financial support of the Belarusian authorities, combined with a campaign of disinformation, is a form of hybrid warfare aimed at intimidating and destabilizing the European Union.
They state that the EU institutions and member states must urgently address the multidimensional crisis on the border with Belarus to help and support the migrants.
The European Parliament also stresses the need to consider the case of Belarus in the International Court of Justice in connection with the massive crimes “committed on a massive scale against the country’s citizens by the regime of illegitimate dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka.” According to the resolution, this should be done based on the Chicago Convention, the Montreal Convention, and the UN Convention against Torture, violated by the Belarusian authorities.
In addition, MEPs regret that the economic sanctions imposed by the EU have only partially affected the Lukashenka regime. Therefore, they urge EU countries to continue tightening targeted financial sanctions, focusing on crucial Belarusian sectors, and to immediately promote the fifth package of sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities “involved in the endless crackdown.”
MEPs call for unconditional support of the Belarusian democratic opposition in organizing free and fair elections under international observation. They also condemn the ongoing relationship between Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin and reiterate the need to expose Russia’s support of Lukashenka’s brutal repression of the people of Belarus and its involvement in hybrid actions against the EU.
belsat.eu
