Natallia Radzina In European Parliament: New Situation Emerged In Belarus

Belarusians need international solidarity.

Following up upon her visit to Brussels, Charter97 editor-in-chief Natallia Radzina met with European Parliament members Julie Ward (UK), Sophie in 't Veld (Netherlands), Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Germany), Bronis Ropė and Rasa Juknevičienė (Lithuania), members of the cabinets of the European Parliament Vice-Presidents Klára Dobrev (Hungary) and Marcel Kolaja (Czech Republic), head of the Eastern Partnership unit in the European External Action Service, head of the Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Eastern Partnership unit in the European Commission.

"Impudent falsification of the parliamentary "election" results in Belarus did not surprise MEPs. The European Parliament knows very well that Belarus is, and continues to be, the last dictatorship in Europe. And they are skeptical about the European officials' attempts to conduct a "dialogue" with Lukashenka, noting that there can be no cooperation without observing human rights.

The main topic of our talks was the new situation in Belarus. The twenty-five-year rule of the Lukashenka regime has led to a catastrophe in Belarus: the economy is going through a deep crisis, there is no one to take money from, reforms frighten the dictator by the loss of control, salaries and pensions of Belarusians have fallen to the poverty level, while the prices are quite comparable with those in Europe, absurd decrees of the Soviet model are adopted and various "taxes on air" are introduced. Rebellions regularly break out all over the country, and new centers of resistance appear. For the first time in the recent history the Belarusian nation is united by one idea: Lukashenka must resign.

Today, Belarusians need real international solidarity: not the one for show, not in words, but in practice. There is a need for real support of the Belarusian independent media, civil society and democratic opposition. It is necessary to stop cooperation with the criminal regime and pump up various GONGO and quasi-independent organizations with European money. Lukashenka's regime should be punished in accordance with international standards and practice for violating human rights, persecuting opposition activists and suppressing freedom of speech," - the Charter-97 editor-in-chief stated.

We remind that the day before, Natallia Radzina met with Polish MEPs, who expressed their full support of Charter97.org, which has been blocked by the Belarusian authorities for two years already. There have been held meetings with former Polish foreign ministers Anna Fotyga (Law and Justice Party) and Radosław Sikorski (Civic Platform Party), head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus Robert Biedroń (Spring Party, Left Coalition), former Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament Zdzisław Krasnodębski and Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (both - Law and Justice Party).

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