Tsikhanouskaya at the European Parliament: Belarusians do not want their country to be given to Putin as a consolation prize

On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a new report on EU relations with Belarus, supporting the country’s democratic political parties in their declarations about the European aspirations of Belarusians. 

In this report, Members of the Parliament (MEPs) call on the Belarusian regime to release all political prisoners. MEPs also strongly condemn the Minsk regime’s role as an accomplice in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. They note “with great concern the rampant political, economic, military and cultural subordination of Belarus to Moscow, rendering the country a de-facto satellite state hosting tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command,” says a press release by the European Parliament.

In the report, MEPs also call for tougher EU sanctions against Belarus given that the recent arrival of Russian mercenary Wagner Group fighters creates new potential security risks for Ukraine as well as for Belarus’ EU neighbours and the wider EU.

The leader of Belarus’ democratic forces Svietlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the plenary and proposed the signing of a memorandum before the 2024 EP elections as the basis of cooperation between the European Parliament and democratic Belarus. “Belarusians want to hear that our country will not be given to Putin as a consolation prize,” she said. 

She also announced that next year Belarusian democratic forces should start issuing their own passports, which would serve as a travel document for exiled Belarusians. She added that she would soon appeal to the EU governments to recognise this new travel document.

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Press release