During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (4-7 October 2021), MEPs debate on the Situation in Belarus after one year of protests and their violent repression. Opening statement by Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner on behalf of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

EU - Belarus (T)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

Situation in Belarus after one year of protests and their violent repression: opening statement by Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs for HRVP Josep BORRELL FONTELLES

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Thank you, Mr. President. Dear members of the European Parliament on behalf of HRVP people and myself. Let me thank this Parliament for your relentless efforts to support the people of Belarus and for your support to our work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, The EU remains united in face of the brutal repression and the continuing provocations by the Lukashenko regime and in support of the Belarusian people. Last time Belarus was addressed in this EP plenary, it was on the 8th of June, after the Lukashenko regime forced a Ryanair flight between two EU capitals to land in order to arrest a journalist and his companion.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Less than two weeks later, the Foreign Affairs Council adopted a robust package of sanctions against seven to eight individuals, eight entities and seven sectors of the economy. One year after the fraudulent elections, the situation in Belarus remains dire. The Lukashenko regime continues its systematic efforts to silence all remaining independent voices in the country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Independent press, human rights defenders and civil society at large. Prominent representatives of the opposition to Lukashenko have been condemned to long prison sentences in political trials conducted behind closed doors. There are now more than 700 political prisoners in the country. A number that continues to increase.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, The oppression and persecution of the Belarusian people is utterly unacceptable. So what are we doing to respond to Lukashenko? From the very outset, the EU provided a package of emergency assistance to the victims of oppression and state violence and to independent media, and we supported the legitimate quest of the Belarusian people for rule of law and free and fair elections.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, We continue to work for justice, for victims and accountability for perpetrators. We continue to raise the human rights situation in all relevant international fora, leading international reactions against Lukashenko's brutal and illegal actions. We also want to send a message of hope and assurance of our continued support to the people of Belarus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Therefore, we have published a plan for a three billion euro economic and investment package in support of a democratic Belarus that we will activate if and when the country changes its current course. The state run instrumentalization of migrants is another worrying example of Lukashenko's blatant disregard of international norms.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, People and air routes are being forced by the regime and imported to Belarus. This year, we have seen already more than 6000 irregular arrivals coming across the Belarus EU border, compared to barely at 150 last year. People originally from Iraq, but also from Congo, Cameroon, Syria. Belarus is not in any known migration route from these countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Belarus is not a country under migratory pressure. People normally seek asylum from Belarus, not in Belarus. The regime is using human being human beings in an unprecedented way to put pressure on the European Union and making a lot of money as well. People come in trips organised by state tourist company, stay in state approved hotels, pay deposit of many thousand dollars, which they never get back.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, They lure people to Minsk who are then transported towards the border in unmarked minivans by men in unmarked uniforms. Lukashenko's desperation is evidence that sanctions are hurting. Each day reinforces the impression that these are fanatic steps from a regime that can see the tide of history returning. His goal is to destabilise the European Union, but he has gravely miscalculated.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Our response has been one of unity, solidarity and action, a response that has been noted both by global partners and our allies in Minsk. Our relentless outreach to partners is working. We are observing a sharp drop in irregular arrivals from Belarus in recent weeks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, The HRVP Borrell has been key in persuading Iraq to stop all flights from Baghdad to Minsk, and now we are reaching out to other countries of origin in Africa whose citizens are being misled and victimised by Lukashenko. We must be firm against Lukashenko and we must be clear with partner countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, One predictable element is that the weather will take a turn for the worse. People should not put set themselves at risk. In direct response to this unprecedented actions, the action plan against migrant smuggling. The Commission presented last week, called this new and serious development by its name. State sponsored migrant smuggling.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And we have proposed to the Council to partially suspend the visa facilitation agreement for government officials from Belarus while keeping the benefits of visa facilitation for the people of Belarus. The EU has shown its full solidarity with our member states. I visited Lithuania in August. We activated our agencies emergency assistance and the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Lithuanian authorities have worked very well with European partners. I thank them for their transparency, their European approach. And last week I visited Poland, where I discussed the provocations at the border with Interior Minister Kaminski and a recent tragic deaths at the borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, I learnt a lot about the situation and my main message is and was: we must protect our shared borders with shared EU resources based on shared values. We must stand firm and united towards Lukashenko, and we must do it in a way that shows that we, the European Union, are based on other values on the rule of law and in full respect of the fundamental rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, We must protect our borders and our values. We agreed, in Warsaw last week, that a delegation from my services arriving tomorrow will visit Poland to continue discussions their members. Let me conclude by stressing that countering disinformation from the Lukashenko regime remains key. We need to keep strengthening communication and awareness raising efforts in parallel to our support to the Belarus Democratic Forces. The European Union stands by the Belarusian people now and we will do so in the future. Thank you for your attention.