Jerzy Buzek: “This is an attack on democratic opposition of Belarus”
- 16.02.2010, 14:11
President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek held a press conference on Warsaw on February 15 focusing on arrests of leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus.
Jerzy Buzek said he saw two variants of development of relations with Belarus. Variant number one: official Minsk gives up persecuting representatives of national minorities and democratic organizations thus obtaining an opportunity to take part in different EU’s programmes. Variant number two: an increase in tensions and return to sanctions, including visa and trade restrictions.
“We’d like Belarus to have foreign investments, I emphasize,” Jerzy Buzek said. “But the situation, when basic principles of cooperation are violated, can lead to sanctions, including economic ones.”
Jerzy Buzek said the EP was going to send four MEPs with an official mission to Belarus the next week.
According to him, “the issue shouldn’t be reduced only to the Union of Poles in Belarus, this is an attack on the entire democratic opposition”.
“I think the issue shouldn’t be reduced to only the Polish minority,” the EP President said. “Of course, this is a hot issue today that should be discussed. But if we want to improve the situation with all national monirities in Belarus, democratic opposition, NGOs, civil society, we should take a wider approach.”
The EP President said the situation in Belarus would be considered at the nearest session of the EU foreign ministers and that he was “discussing this issue with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton”.
According to him, after the Belarusian issue is discussed at the sessions of the EP, Council of Europe, and a EP mission returns from Minsk, the European institutions will work out a decision on concrete measures of Europe towards the Belarusian authorities.
We remind that 40 activists of the Union of Poles in Belarus were arrested on February 15 on their way to a trial over Teresa Sobol, the leader of the Ivyanets union division. Leaders of the organization Andrzej Poczobut, Igor Bancer, and Mieczyslaw Jaskiewicz were sentenced o 5 days of arrest. Head of the Union of Poles Andzelika Borys was fined 1,050,000 rubles ($360). They were accused of violation of the rules of holding mass events during the action of solidarity with Teresa Sobol organized in Hrodna on February 10.