“Señor High Representative Josep Borrell, Distinguished Ministers,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for inviting me to address you ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council. My country is now experiencing a spiral of extreme violence and repression. The dictator has put his boot at the neck of the Belarusian society and it is suffocating. I am everything but naïve: these are perhaps the darkest days in our history since Stalin's repressions and World War II. This urgency makes me appeal to you and plead to speak with one voice to stop this injustice, lawlessness, and crimes against humanity – now also intruding into the European Union space.
We welcome that the approach to gradually increase the pressure has been replaced by the decisive steps in response to the Ryanair incident. On the 23rd of May, the hijacking of the Ryanair airplane caused an earthquake in international politics. It has nally become clear what danger this regime represents – to millions of Belarusians and Europeans. It has nally become evident that Lukashenka is the problem not only for Belarusians but for all Europeans. Citizens of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Spain were on board among others. One week before the incident, I took the same ight from Athens to Vilnius. It could have been me. Or my team. Or any of you. And while the EU citizens – including children — were taken hostage by the regime for 7 long hours, my country’s citizens have been hostages of the regime for almost 27 years.
Let me be clear. The Ryanair incident is not accidental. Belarusians have experienced this level of lawlessness and criminal absUrdity from Lukashenka’s regime every day for more than a year. And this has taken its toll.
Belarusian activist Stiapan Latypau tried to slit his throat with a pen during the trial. He didn’t want to confess to the crimes he had never committed. He was in despair and didn’t want to expose his family to harAssment by the regime. Can you imagine the scope of psychological and physical torture that has pushed him to this brink?
I know exactly how this feels. I was so afraid they would take away my four-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son that exactly a year ago I was on the brink of giving up the presidential campaign. It is only when my children were in safety in Lithuania that I regained strength to continue the ght against this inhuman regime. The regime does not hesitate to threaten the life of your parents and kids to get to you. In a normal world, this has a name: terrorism.
Sometimes my daughter asks me whether I am sure our father Siarhei Tsikhanouski is still alive. What should I tell her? I want to be able to tell my little girl that her father is OK and will be home soon. But I cannot be sure. I can only be sure that I am doing everything for this to happen.
Distinguished Ministers,
(Sanctions)
Lukashenka is playing his usual cat-and-mouse game again. Do not trust him. He is trying to manipulate the situation. He trades amnesty for political prisoners, reportedly forcing them to ask to be pardoned. This is another attempt of this regime to create a false perception only to convince you to lift the sanctions.
Political prisoners should not become bargaining chips again. Half-measures will only freeze the crisis in Belarus. For the sanctions to be eective, they can be lifted only after all the following conditions are fully met: all political prisoners are released, repressions stop, and a genuine dialogue with the democratic forces brings the country to early elections.
I know there are doubts whether the sanctions are the best approach, whether they really work and deliver results. This is a mind trap, which all dictators seek to exploit. Let’s not fall for it. Today, if workers of a state enterprise in Hrodna, Polatsk, Salihorsk or Mozyr want to go on strike, they are repressed. Not only them – their family members too. But if the European Union sanctions an enterprise, this essentially means a strike, only the workers are not repressed and avoid persecution.
2
3
The regime is sensitive towards sanctions targeting companies under its direct control or closely linked with the regime’s business interests. Sanctions should also aim at state propaganda that enables disinformation campaigns.
The regime has been using journalist Raman Pratasevich, the ultimate target of the Ryanair plane hijacking, as a propaganda tool. They forced him to speak on camera praising Lukashenka and recounting information provided by the KGB.
The sanctions are not a silver bullet, but they are needed to impose pressure. If you fear that the pressure will push Lukashenka into Moscow’s embrace, he is already there.
At the same time, we see that Russia is willing to abuse the growing weakness of Lukashenka. Russia is pushing the integration process which will further undermine our sovereignty and independence. I urge you to convey this language to Russian representatives: any agreements signed by Lukashenka will have no legal force.
(Delegitimisation)
Your excellencies,
“They have taken my country away” — wrote Belarusian poet and journalist Valiaryna Kustava (Валярына Кустава) who has recently been forced into exile. “Not only have they seized all my belongings, but my very right to live in Belarus. I never wanted to leave.”. Soon there will be no poets and journalists, no doctors and teachers, no IT programmers and lawyers – only riot police and military forces.
Lukashenka has turned Belarus into a huge prison camp. The political prisoners are only the most visible part. The regime has locked the entire population inside due to closed land borders, cut o from international travel, and most importantly from possible escape routes in case of danger. And the danger is real.
During my recent visit to Prague, I talked to exiled Belarusians.
[Showbullet]AyoungBelarusian hasgivenmethisbullet–itwasremovedfromhislung. He told me about his pain and horror, when thousands of such bullets were red at peaceful protestors. But I can still hear his voice saying: “In this suering, our nation has risen”. These memories will become part of future trials against the criminals who committed this brutality. But for this to happen, we need to pave the way to new free and fair presidential elections already this year and under international observation.
4
The EU Member States should rmly and publicly decline to consider Lukashenka and any of his cronies as the ‘ocial’ representatives of Belarus. I am often called an ‘opposition leader’. But the actual opposition to the people is currently occupying the presidential seat. He lost the elections and has no right to speak on behalf of our country.
I urge you to invite representatives of democratic forces to high-prole international fora and bilateral events to raise awareness about the crisis in Belarus. It is of special importance to ensure that the illegal regime is not getting an invitation to the Eastern Partnership Summit. Instead, the invitation to speak on behalf of Belarus at the summit should go to the representatives of democratic forces.
I call on you to adopt a clear language on the situation in Belarus, similar to the one recently adopted by the European Parliament, which declared the current regime ‘illegitimate, illegal and criminal’.
Dear Ministers,
(Solidarity and Support)
Belarusians need your solidarity and support. We want to be a democratic country. Due to the physical closure of the state borders, the EU should further facilitate issuing visas. I also call on the EU to provide additional opportunities to leave the country for those in danger: victims of violence, activists, journalists, students. Belarusian civil society, in particular, human rights defenders, attOrneys, local civic initiatives, and activists need your increased support since they are at the forefront of this struggle. Both those inside Belarus, and those outside who have been forced to ee. I want to underline that assistance programs need to be expanded and adjusted. The programs should be exible and satisfy the needs of those on the ground.
The EU and its Member States should continue suspending any nancial aid to the regime. Let this money be directed to the needs of the victims of repressions and civil society activists.
It is also important that private corporations withhold any relations and new investments in Belarus. We are concerned that the regime will use newly allocated IMF reserve funds to prolong repressions. And we ask to prevent this from happening.
5
In parallel, let us further develop a positive vision for the future. The EU Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support to democratic Belarus has resonated strongly among Belarusians. People see this step as material evidence that the international community will support us during political transition and reforms. We anticipate that other major economic powers will follow the EU’s lead. We also suggest that the Member States governments consider developing their own national plans of support to democratic Belarus.
It would be crucial to hold a high-level conference with the participation of the EU, G7 Member States, and other major stakeholders. We will aim to realize it in the coming months, with your support and active participation.
The EU response is becoming more sophisticated and requires new eorts to stay integrated and eective. We suggest to consider establishing a task force led by an EU Special Envoy for Belarus. Such a mechanism would become the focal point to coordinate these eorts, within the EU and with other like-minded states and will help oversee the implementation of the adopted measures.
I would like to call for all the EU Member States to show a united front and maintain consistency. Let us not wait for yet another day, yet another incident or new victims — until it is too late.
These are the darkest days in our country’s independent history. However, Belarusians are as determined as ever to succeed in this ght.
Let’s be brave and daring. Let us be true champions of democracy and freedom. Thank you.
