“Dear Michael Siebert,
Dear members of the Consultative Group,
Мае дарагія беларускія сябры,
I am glad to be here with you today for the second meeting of the EU-Belarus Consultative Group. I really feel that I am among friends in this room. Friends who share the same values, and see Belarus as a part of the European community.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Michael Siebert, European External Action Service, DG HOME, DG NEAR, and STRATCOM, for your unwavering commitment and support to free, democratic and independent Belarus.
On Monday, I was privileged to speak to High Representative Borrell here in Brussels. And he assured me that the EU will stand with democratic Belarus. This gives me hope that Belarus will remain high on the EU agenda.
At my meeting with EU foreign ministers, I proposed to stick with a two-fold approach towards Belarus. To isolate the regime on one hand, and to help Belarusian people on the other. I asked ministers to help bring the regime to account, but also to make sanction pressure more efficient.
Last week, we concluded the Strategic Dialogue with the United States, our other strategic partner. As a result of the discussion in Washington, and consultations today, I hope we’ll manage to lay out and synchronize the common strategy on Belarus.
Today, I want us to discuss in detail how to preserve Belarusian independence, how to hold the government responsible for its crimes, and how to free political prisoners, especially those in dire health condition. We have compiled the “humanitarian” list of political prisoners that have to be released immediately and unconditionally.
I urge us to discuss today the issue of people’s mobility. The regime is trying to deprive people of passports, legal documents, making them de facto stateless. And we need a comprehensive solution for this matter. It’s not only about visas, but also residence permits, alliance passports, and simplification of legalization for Belarusians.
I wish to extend my gratitude to DG HOME for consulting us in preparing the new Belarusian passport – a truly unprecedented project – that we hope will allow Belarusians to confirm their identity, and partly solve the passport problem. We are in the process of producing specimens, and we’ll back to you on this matter soon.
Another topic is the support for independent media. It is of crucial importance. In order to counter the regime’s and Russian propaganda, but also to deliver positive messages to those who stay inside Belarus. The EU is doing so much for Belarus, and we must not be shy about communicating that.
Belarusians are watching closely the progress made by Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine in the direction of European integration. And I want us to discuss how to support the European Aspirations of Belarusians. I know it’s premature to speak about EU membership. But we can prepare the Association agreement that will be signed by the Belarus legitimate government in the future. I propose to include the support for European choice of Belarus in the Council Conclusions in January.
It was sad to see the empty chair yesterday, at the Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting. I understand why you decided to do it. But in my opinion, it would be a much stronger signal of solidarity to invite representatives of Belarusian democratic forces to take this chair. So the voice of our people is heard and represented.
Dear friends,
I know that the path to freedom and democracy is long and challenging. But let’s walk this path together. Free Belarus is in strategic interest of the European Union.
Thank you for what you’ve done for us, and for what you’ll do.”
