English

New PACE president expresses support for EU sanctions against Minsk

Jean-Claude Mignon, the newly elected president of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), has expressed his full support for the European Union’s targeted sanctions against Belarusian officials and legal entities.

The Council of Europe member states should follow the EU’s lead as recommended by PACE on January 25, Mr. Mignon said in an interview with BelaPAN.

The Lukashenka regime refuses to change its stubborn stance, not paying heed to calls for respect for democracy and human rights, and Europe should also be firm, he said.

He said that as a French PM, he had met four times with the Paris-based Belarusian ambassador. Each time, a discussion gave the impression that it would produce results and things would now improve, but quite the opposite normally occurred later, he noted.

Europe should finally say “Enough,” he said.

Belarus ignored all positive signals sent by PACE, and the Assembly is just forced to deny Special Guest status to the Belarusian parliament and freeze all contacts until Belarus declares a moratorium on the death penalty at least, said Mr. Mignon.

He expressed regret that the people of Belarus showed little reaction to the authorities` steps that had plunged the country into isolation. It is regretful that the policy of the Belarusian leadership, which shuns discussions and reforms, makes the entire population suffer, he said.

Mr. Mignon emphasized the importance of PACE’s January 25 resolution, which he noted called on the Council of Europe member countries to use all possible political and diplomatic leverages to prompt Minsk to bring national regulations into line with international standards.

Commenting on Belarus’ political prisoners, Mr. Mignon recalled that PACE had expressed in its resolution serious concern about the treatment of Mr. Lukashenka’s political opponents in prison and called for an investigation into the use of torture against them. It is necessary to put an end to the persecution of political activists and secure the release of those imprisoned, he said.

As for a possible visit by PACE members to Belarus, Mr. Mignon said that it was difficult for European politicians to get into the country. The Belarusian authorities deny visas, which suggests that there is something that they do not want to show, he said.

Mr. Mignon expressed hope that Belarus would join the European family of democratic countries one day. PACE would do everything possible so that it could happen, he added.