Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-23-Speech-4-014"
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"en.20060323.4.4-014"2
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".
Madam President, if we look back to last Sunday, I think it is quite clear that the only fitting response to the elections that day in Belarus is one of emphatic condemnation.
Finally, we will be holding a more extensive debate on this issue in Strasbourg in two weeks’ time, where we may be able to discuss in greater detail the action that the European Union could take, and so I would like to ask the Council one thing, and that is to present a sound programme and sound proposals to support the opposition and civil society in that country. I think that is really important: to look for more ways of giving the opposition the support that it needs and deserves, and it is probably the only way of securing change in that country. I take Mr Winkler’s view: winter cannot last forever in Minsk.
Those elections were not free, they were not fair and the situation was, if anything, worse than it was during the presidential elections four years ago. I think it is also right and proper that the European Union should spell this out quite clearly and let our public know that we do not accept that a dictatorship should continue its grip on that country through elections of that kind.
That, of course, begs the question what we should do next. I share Mr Klich’s view that we need to look into how we can go on extending what we call smart sanctions.
We believe it makes no sense to develop sanctions that affect the people of that country; the most important thing we should do for them is to see if we can help raise awareness or make more room for pluralism in that country.
I think that the Council and Commission need to make it clear how that regime, after these elections, is to be characterised, and that we should use the same harsh words to describe it as the US. At least, there is then no doubt as to what we think of it.
I think that we should also look into the option of extending the role of the High Representative. Why not, indeed, appoint a special EU representative for Belarus?
As Mr Winkler said a moment ago, one core issue is, of course, the relationship with Russia. It is all well and good to have 40 signatures under an EU declaration – very good indeed – but one signature is missing. That signature is at the bottom of a telegram which Mr Putin sent Mr Lukashenko as early as Sunday, I believe, to congratulate him once again on the fantastic outcome, in which Mr Putin expresses the hope that he, together with Mr Lukashenko, can work on both countries’ further democratic development.
That is the situation we are facing. I hope that these issues will be raised at the G8 summit, but also maybe, and mainly, in the framework of the regular consultation between the European Union and Russia. I think it is of crucial importance for the EU to join forces with neighbouring countries such as Ukraine, but also with the United States, in order to further develop policy with a view to bringing about change in the country in question.
I also think that a more visible policy on our part would pay off at the moment. There has been so much media attention in all our countries about these elections that we should make use of the momentum it has created."@en1
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