EP Foreign Affairs Committee urges ICC to issue arrest warrant for Łukašenka

July 18, BPN. The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on July 18 urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Alaskander Łukašenka.

Belarus is responsible for damage caused to and crimes committed in Ukraine, MEPs pointed out, including through the regime’s role in the illegal transfers of children. 

With the ICC already having issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, MEPs call on the court to consider a similar arrest warrant for Łukašenka, the statement says. 

The report is to be put to vote in the European Parliament in September.

MEPs noted the rampant political, economic, military and cultural subordination of Belarus to Moscow, rendering the country a de-facto satellite state that also hosts tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command.

They called on the EU not to recognize any agreements made by the Łukašenka regime and Russia that cede the country’s sovereignty against the will of the Belarusian people.

“The EU must also develop a common strategy for preserving Belarus’ independence and for Belarus’ transition to democracy, with the participation of international institutions, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the G7,” the statement says.