EU condemns Belarus’ complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine

May 14, BPN. The EU called on Minsk to stop supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and to “abide by its international obligations and ensure full transparency regarding military activities on its territory,” the EU delegation to the UN and OSCE said in a statement following the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on May 12.

The EU is convinced that the actions of Belarus are “a blatant violation” of the UN Charter, international law and OSCE principles and commitments.

The statement stressed that “Belarus has been further isolated within the wider international community, facing enhanced sanctions and condemnation” due to the war in Ukraine. It also noted that Belarusians “do not want to be associated with this illegal war of aggression and the heinous crimes committed in Ukraine.”

The EU condemned “increased political repression by the regime in Minsk,” referring to possible expansion of death penalty to punish “attempted terrorist activities,” and described it as an “enhanced instrument of political repression against Lukashenka’s opponents and Belarusian people.”

The EU has once again urged Minsk to release and rehabilitate all political prisoners and to stop violating human rights, noting the need of “an inclusive national dialogue” and free and fair elections as the way out of the political crisis.

The EU also stressed its determination “to ensure that everyone responsible for political repression in Belarus faces justice” and promised to hold accountable “those responsible for facilitating Russia’s war of aggression.”

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, San Marino, North Macedonia, and Ukraine joined the EU statement.