Brussels, 8 August 2024
Four years ago, on 9 August, the people of Belarus took to the streets to peacefully protest against the fraudulent presidential elections and Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s attempt to take away their right to decide their future. Since then, and despite violent repression, the Belarusian people have repeatedly and bravely stood up for their human rights and their country’s democratic future.
The Lukashenka regime has responded with a massive campaign of violence and intimidation against its own people. There are around 1,400 political prisoners currently in detention. They represent only a fraction of the thousands of individuals who have been in and out of politically motivated detention since 2020. Lukashenka launched a total crackdown against the Belarusian civil society, human rights defenders, free media and journalists, political opponents, independent trade unionists, representatives of national minorities, and ultimately against all ordinary citizens expressing their views, both in and outside the country.
At least six political prisoners lost their lives in detention, and many have been held incommunicado for more than a year. Some of the detainees have life threatening conditions and require urgent medical assistance. Such treatment of prisoners and detainees is in violation of international law and Belarus’ own commitments. In his latest report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime of persecution, which is a crime against humanity, may have been committed in Belarus. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and unjustly detained people.
Belarusian sovereignty and identity are increasingly under threat. In addition to wide-scale domestic repression, the Belarusian regime has been complicit in Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Besides political, military and logistical support, it has contributed to the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia. Since 2021, the regime has also orchestrated migration pressure on the EU’s external borders.
For all this, the EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions against the regime and its supporters. On 5 August, the EU adopted additional sanctions against 28 individuals involved in, inter alia, human rights violations, politically motivated trials, and state propaganda activities. Altogether, 261 individuals and 37 entities and bodies are currently subject to EU individual restrictive measures. The EU also leads efforts to ensure accountability for those responsible for human rights violations, at the UN and other international fora, and to support international initiatives to hold all perpetrators to account.
The EU remains united in its support to the brave people of Belarus, the Belarusian democratic movement, and civil society in their quest for a free, democratic, sovereign and independent Belarus as part of a peaceful Europe. Once Belarus embarks on a democratic transition, the EU will provide support to stabilise its economy and reform its institutions, including through a Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support of up to EUR 3 billion. We will continue to ensure that the voices of the Belarusian people are heard.
Source – EU Commission
The EU continues to stand for a free and democratic Belarus
On 9 August 2020, Belarusians went to the polls with hope for democratic change. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had galvanised the opposition, stepping into the fray after her husband, a prominent blogger, was jailed to prevent his candidacy. Despite overwhelming evidence of electoral fraud, Lukashenka claimed an implausible 80% victory. The EU did not recognise these results; the elections were neither free nor fair.
In the days that followed, this blatant fraud sparked mass protests across Belarus. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets. Lukashenka’s regime responded with a brutal crackdown. From 9 to 12 August 2020, riot police detained almost 7,000 protesters and bystanders in Minsk, holding them in inhuman and degrading conditions. Four years later, there are still around 1,400 political prisoners. Ms Tsikhanouskaya, as well as thousands of other Belarusians, was forced into exile. She has become a symbol of Belarusian resistance and the face of the democratic movement abroad.
The repression of summer 2020 not only crushed the immediate hopes for change in Belarus. It also set the country on a path of increasing isolation and growing dependence on Russia. Lukashenka has progressively given away Belarus’ identity and sovereignty to Putin – in order to remain in power.
The most glaring example came in February 2022 when Lukashenka allowed Russian troops to use Belarus’ territory as a launch pad for the invasion of Ukraine. His regime has also been contributing to the deportation of Ukrainian children from the Russia-controlled territories of Ukraine by organising “summer camps” for them, where they undergo ideological and military indoctrination. All this has made Lukashenka an accomplice in Putin’s illegal war of aggression.
Further escalating tensions with his Western neighbours, Lukashenka subsequently agreed to station Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus and he discussed operational plans to invade the so-called Suwałki gap, stretching about 70 kilometres along the Lithuanian-Polish border. These statements are part of a strategy to spread disinformation and instil fear in the West.
Already since 2021, the EU’s borders have been the target of hybrid attacks. Lukashenka’s regime encouraged migrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa to come to Belarus, in order to push them towards the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
These hybrid attacks have forced neighbouring EU Member States to reinforce the security of border crossing points, making mobility more difficult for Belarusian citizens. Lukashenka is leading a wider campaign to hinder people-to-people exchange with the West. Administrative obstacles have been created for those who wish to study abroad and since September 2023, Belarussians have been unable to renew their passports in Belarusian consulates in the EU and elsewhere.
This coincides with an increasing integration of Belarus in the Russian information sphere. The Russian state ideology of Russkiy Mir (“Russian world”) is being promoted, while alternative voices are suppressed. Even the use of the Belarusian language – an official language together with Russian – is increasingly restricted and discouraged.
Belarus’s current plight serves as a dire warning for Ukraine and other states in Russia’s neighbourhood. Vladimir Putin’s vision for Ukraine equals what he is trying to achieve in Belarus: alignment with Russian interests, suppression of civil society, and eradication of democratic aspirations. The fierce fight of the Ukrainian people to maintain sovereignty resonates deeply with many Belarusians who see their own aspirations reflected.
Despite repression, the people of Belarus continue to take action to restore their freedom and their country’s democratic future, often at great personal risk. Political prisoners and their families continue to pay the highest price.
Today’s fourth anniversary of the stolen election serves as a reminder of their tremendous courage but also as a call to action for the international community. The EU has implemented targeted sanctions. These include travel bans and asset freezes on 261 individuals and 37 entities responsible for the repression and for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. The EU has also restricted Belarus’ access to EU capital markets and limited trade.
At the same time, we have been providing financial support to Belarusian civil society, to independent media and the democratic opposition. I launched last year a specific consultative group. We meet regularly with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society to better understand their needs and the challenges they face, both inside and outside of the country.
The Belarusian people’s aspirations for a better future, so clearly expressed four years ago, will not be forgotten. We will continue to support all efforts for a free and democratic Belarus.