EU-Belarus: Commissioner Füle met with Aliaksandr Milinkevich
Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood, met with Aliaksandr Milinkevich, leader of the Belarusian opposition Movement for Freedom, in Brussels today to discuss the current situation in Belarus, prospects for the September parliamentary elections in Belarus, and EU-Belarus relations.
“Belarus is high on the EU’s agenda and constantly on our minds. The meeting with Mr Milinkevich provided a good opportunity to take stock of the situation in Belarus after the releases of political prisoners Andrei Sannikau and Dzmitry Bandarenka in April and before the upcoming parliamentary elections on 23 September.
I shared with Mr Milinkevich the EU’s deepening concern about the continued existence of political prisoners and of reports of their mistreatment, of recent repressive legislation that increases the powers of the KGB, and of the numerous recent reports of harassment of representatives of the opposition and civil society, including journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
We also discussed the continued cooperation between EU and Belarusian civil society and opposition. The European Dialogue on Modernisation provides a new and innovative tool for the EU and the opposition and civil society to discuss the vision of a modern Belarus and prospects of possible EU support. I also reassured Mr Milinkevich of the EU’s strong commitment to bring forward work to unilaterally facilitate the obtaining of Belarusian citizens of EU visas, in the absence of a reply by the authorities to the offer to negotiate visa facilitation and readmission agreements”