'Future Of Belarus Will Be Determined By Current Political Prisoners, Not Lukashenka's Gang'

The European Parliament has supported the Belarusian prisoners of conscience and the Kalinouski regiment.

On November 23, during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the repressions going on in Belarus were discussed, reports a correspondent of Charter97.org.

"Unfortunately, the repression continues to intensify," said European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič.

"The EU has clearly stated that the Lukashenka regime has no democratic legitimacy. New sanctions against judges and prosecutors in the context of human rights violations are currently being worked on. Further areas [for new sanctions] will be identified in case Belarus gets further involved in the Russian war against Ukraine," the Commissioner said.

"We should impose the same sanctions against Belarus as against Russia. This will mean that Russia, supported by Lukashenka, will not be able to circumvent the sanctions," urged Juozas Olekas, head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus.

Members of the European Parliament talked a lot about the fate of the Belarusian political prisoners. Almost all speakers mentioned that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski is now behind bars.

MEP Marketa Gregorova compared herself to 21-year-old student Kasia Budzko, who could not put up with injustice and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Slovak MEP Miriam Lexmann said that her friend, co-head of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Pavel Seviarynets has been held in inhumane conditions for two years now. Portuguese parliamentarian Isabel Santos reminded about the fates of Belarusian patriot Mikalai Autukhovich and European Belarus activist Paulina Sharenda-Panasiuk. Polish MPs spoke about the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus Andrzej Poczobut and Anzhalika Borys.

Viola von Cramon, an MP from Germany, reminded about the dead Aliaksandr Taraikouski and Vitold Ashurak.

Despite the difficult situation, optimism prevailed in the speeches of many of the speakers: "Belarus will be free because Ukraine will win - that's why the Kastus Kalinouski regiment is fighting on the Ukrainian front against Russia," said former Lithuanian Defence Minister Rasa Juknevičienė.

"The Belarusians are consolidating. They are actively opposing the regime: they are creating institutions and they are actively fighting together with Ukrainians against the illegal Russian aggression," said former Polish Foreign Minister and MEP Anna Fotyga.

"We have to do everything possible so that political opponents and civil society activists are released from the overcrowded Belarusian prisons. It is they, together with society, and not Lukashenka's gang, who will determine the future of Belarus," said Petras Auštrevičius, Permanent Rapporteur of the European Parliament for Belarus.

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