“Dear High Commissioner Borrel,
Dear colleagues and friends of Belarus,
I am really honored to open the first meeting of the Belarus – EU Consultative Group. We have come a long way to reach this point. And finally we are launching a mechanism to work on the bilateral agenda between Belarus and the EU.
I welcome my compatriot friends, allies, and colleagues who have selflessly dedicated their lives to no small task – to get rid of the dictatorship and restore democracy in our country, to free our nation from damaging external dependence, and to bring Belarus to its rightful place in the family of European nations.
These people represent the core of the civil society and democratic forces. And we are fortunate to say that our movement is strong, vibrant, and growing. This is a crucial precondition to achieve our objectives.
I am grateful to High Commissioner Borrel, his team and other European Union institutions for the attention and support Belarusian democratic forces receive in their fight to liberate Belarus. The EU is in the best position to lead international efforts on the crisis in neighboring Belarus. I am convinced that this Group will help take this leadership to a new level.
I am confident that we will have a robust, engaging conversation on the specific steps we want to make in our bilateral agenda. At this moment, I want to speak about my vision of where this group should take our work, our relations and the Belarusian nation.
The context for the launch is very hard for Belarus and challenging for the EU. We are facing a growing number of tasks – so far these are mostly challenges, but we also meet opportunities along the way. Especially when it comes to the development of civil society that helps engage diverse communities inside Belarus and abroad. This also goes to the planning for the transit period and initial reforms in a democratic Belarus. The European perspective for Belarus is a distinct strategic priority that can be pursued jointly with the Group in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
However, we must also face the harsh reality and work on the solutions to the existential crisis in Belarus. Our country is under severe threat from the growing presence of the Russian military, the deployment of nuclear weapons, the regime’s role in the aggression against Ukraine, and possible arrival of the Wagner mercenaries – these are just the newest additions to our tasks.
It all started with rigged elections in 2020, brutal crackdown against the peaceful protests and massive repressions. Those fateful months led to thousands of political prisoners, hundreds of thousands leaving their country, complete destruction of the political field, civil society, free media environment and assault on our national identity. These are the tasks we must address and resolve now.
Just like Ukrainians in their fight against Russian armed aggression, Belarusians also rely heavily on international support. We must maintain political and diplomatic isolation of the illegitimate regime and build up pressure where it is most impactful. We need to provide new opportunities to keep Belarus high on the agenda. We all must stop the interference of Russia in Belarus affairs that looks more like a hostile takeover of a sovereign state threatening the very existence of the Belarusian state.
We must find solutions to multiple practical problems Belarusians are facing due to mass forced migration: legalization, visas, education in Belarusian and maintaining cultural identity. One serious problem that we are working on is the new national passport. Tens of thousands of Belarusians face the prospect of expired passports. The illegal regime is preparing to deprive thousands of its opponents of citizenship, most of them reside in the EU. We must find a way to deny the regime the ability to control people’s lives even when they live in free countries. The new passport is the solution.
Finally, we should all work to make this Group a solution-oriented and result driven mechanism. This Group should work on a continuous basis on various tracks to ensure that problems we are facing are met with actions.
It is my firm conviction – and I ask Mr. Borrel and the European Council to consider this idea – that the appointment of an EU Special Representative for Belarus will bring the work on Belarus in Brussels to a new level. It will help align the work of various EU institutions, coordinate efforts among the EU member states and to lead on Belarus with our friends in the US, UK, Canada as well as international organizations.
We need to expand the space for Belarus in the EU but also to make the EU better understood and appreciated by millions of Belarusians.
Thank you for your attention. I am looking forward to our work”.
