What changed

B100058/2025

B100056/2025

European Parliament resolution on the need for actions to address the continued oppression and fake elections in Belarus

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus,

– having regard to the UN Charter,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– having regard to the 1990 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Copenhagen Document, in particular paragraph 8 thereof,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas ever since peaceful protests broke out against the massively falsified presidential election of 9 August 2020, the Lukashenka regime, with Russian support, has been continuing its severe repression against the Belarusian people, with many citizens being harassed, arrested, tortured and convicted for expressing opposition to the regime or for protesting against the falsification of the election or the systematic human rights violations;

A. whereas the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka will stage ‘presidential elections’ on 26 January 2025, enabling Lukashenka to extend his term as president for another five years;

B. whereas, since 2020, tens of thousands of people have been arbitrarily detained and, as of January 2025, there remain 1 250 political prisoners in Belarus, many of whom suffer under life-threatening conditions.

B. whereas the political opponents who were arrested before or after the fraudulent elections of August 2020 are all still in prison; whereas compared to the much contested presidential election held in 2020, this time no genuine opposition candidates at all have been allowed to take part;

C. whereas on 26 February 2024, the Council prolonged until 28 February 2025 the restrictive measures against Belarus linked to internal repression in the country and the regime’s support for the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine; whereas the Council is expected to prolong the restrictive measures once more;

C. whereas Belarus’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has registered Lukashenka and four other pro forma ‘candidates’; whereas the conditions for these ‘presidential elections’ show that they are not genuine elections but rather a technical procedure orchestrated by the regime to prolong Lukashenka’s hold on power;

D. whereas a so-called presidential election has been announced for 26 January 2025, which the democratic forces of Belarus are urging voters to boycott because of the continued repression, imprisonment or forced exile of opposition members, dismantlement of opposition parties, independent media, trade unions and civil society organisations, stripping of voting rights of Belarusians abroad, intimidation of voters, and lack of transparent vote counting and independent electoral observation;

D. whereas the Lukashenka regime has intensified repression in the country since the fraudulent 2020 presidential elections, ensuring that there are no registered opposition parties or independent organisations remaining in the country;

1. Calls for an immediate end to the repression of the people of Belarus and reiterates its firm solidarity with all those who continue to fight the Lukashenka regime’s massive and systematic repression in Belarus;

E. whereas Belarus has not invited the OSCE to send an election observation mission, in breach of OSCE commitments; whereas the Belarusian CEC states that over 360 international observers have been accredited for the presidential election, including observers from European countries as well as from the Commonwealth of Independent States;

2. Reiterates its concern about the situation regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus, including the unabated systematic repression, the crackdown on the democratic opposition, civil society, independent media, trade unions, religious organisations and political parties, persistent impunity, and the structural lack of respect for due process and fair trials;

F. whereas none of the past six presidential elections in Belarus have been deemed free or fair; whereas international observers, including the OSCE, have accused Lukashenka of exploiting administrative powers to manipulate votes and ensure his victory;

3. Reiterates that, in line with the principles of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the legitimate demands of the people of Belarus for democracy based on human rights, fundamental freedoms, prosperity, sovereignty and security must be met; reiterates its previous calls for new, free and fair elections to be organised under international observation by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR); stresses that any election held in the current atmosphere of fear and repression and in breach of all international standards cannot be considered free and fair;

G. whereas following the fraudulent 2020 presidential elections and the subsequent brutal and ongoing crackdown on democratic forces, civil society activists, free trade unions, the independent media and peaceful protesters, the European Parliament did not recognise the results of the elections nor Aliaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate leader and President of Belarus;

4. Recalls that the EU and its Member States did not recognise the results of the 2020 presidential election, do not recognise Aliaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus and will not therefore recognise his intended re-election for a seventh consecutive term in the so-called presidential election announced for 26 January 2025;

H. whereas the Lukashenka regime has announced that it will not open polling stations abroad, making it impossible for Belarusians in exile to cast their vote;

5. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and all persons arbitrarily detained, arrested or sentenced on politically motivated grounds, many of whom have been held incommunicado for months or years, have severe health problems and are subjected to isolation, ill-treatment and torture; urgently calls for all charges against them to be dropped and for their full rehabilitation and financial compensation for harm caused by their illegitimate detention; underlines the need, in the meantime, for information on their whereabouts and their detention conditions to be provided, as well as for their access to lawyers of their choice, the International Committee of the Red Cross, medical support and communication with family members to be ensured;

I. whereas while some political prisoners were released in recent months, the crackdown on dissidents continues and has worsened since the announcement of the elections, with frequent arrests and trials on politically motivated charges; whereas there are over 1 250 political prisoners in Belarus, with the real number believed to be higher; whereas several prominent political prisoners continue to be held incommunicado;

6. Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to support the political prisoners and their families by requesting, at every opportunity, their immediate release, summoning the regime’s ambassadors to request proof of their condition and location, simplifying the procedures for obtaining visas and provisional identification documents for those fleeing Belarus, and providing rehabilitation, practical and financial support; calls on the EU Delegation and the Member State embassies in Belarus to continue observing and monitoring the trials of all political prisoners wherever possible; encourages the Council and the Commission to identify novel avenues to work towards the release of all political prisoners;

J. whereas in December 2024, Mikalai Khila, a local member of staff with the EU Delegation to Belarus, was sentenced to four years in prison, after being arrested in front of the EU delegation office in April 2024; whereas the sentencing is suspected to have been politically motivated as the charges against Khila remain unclear;

7. Calls on the Council to broaden and strengthen the sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the repression and electoral fraud in Belarus and to target all individuals complicit in the regime’s repression, including judges, prosecutors and law enforcement, prison and penal colony officials;

K. whereas on 24 December 2024, Dzmitryi Kuchuk, former leader of the forcibly dissolved Belarusian Green Party, was sentenced to six years in a high-security penal colony in a politically motivated trial following his arrest in February 2024 after laying flowers at the Russian embassy in Minsk in memory of Alexei Navalny;

8. Calls on the Commission, the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Member States to continue raising the situation in Belarus in all relevant European and international organisations, in particular the OSCE, the UN and its specialised bodies and the International Labour Organization, with the aim of enhancing international scrutiny of the human rights violations and galvanising the international community into action on the situation in Belarus;

L. whereas the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus has long been embedded in the Lukashenka regime’s government structure and is thought to play a significant role in organising the falsification of election results;

9. Calls for the EU and its Member States to work towards holding the Lukashenka regime accountable for all its crimes against the people of Belarus and to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction;

M. whereas the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus following the fraudulent 2020 presidential elections; whereas on 16 December 2024, the Council further expanded the sanctions regime when it decided to impose restrictive measures on an additional 26 individuals and 2 entities from Belarus, in view of the situation in the country;

10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to continue assisting Belarusian democratic forces, civil society and independent media and to explore new avenues to foster people-to-people contact with Belarus; encourages the representatives of the democratic forces of Belarus to maintain and promote unity, based on the objective of a free, democratic and independent Belarus, among all Belarusian democratic forces and civil society;

N. whereas on 4 April 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Council established, for a renewable period of one year, a group of three independent experts on the situation of human rights in Belarus; whereas on 11 October 2024, Mr Nils Muižnieks was appointed as the new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus;

11. Expresses concern about persecution committed in exile, such as the abuse of Interpol arrest warrants by the Lukashenka regime to bring about the extradition of political opponents from non-EU countries; calls, therefore, on the countries concerned not to extradite Belarusian citizens who have fled the regime and may face persecution on their return to Belarus; calls for the EU and its Member States to raise the abuse of international arrest warrants with Interpol;

1. Continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Belarus; reiterates its non-recognition of the election of Aliaksandr Lukashenka as President of Belarus, and denounces the continuing repression of democratic forces, the free media and civil society through politically motivated show trials, as well as the complete absence of democratic standards for the ‘presidential elections’ scheduled for 26 January 2025;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and the de facto authorities of the Republic of Belarus.

2. Considers that any elections held in the current atmosphere of fear and repression, without genuine opposition candidates on the ballot paper, and in conditions that are contrary to all internationally recognised standards, with no possibility for Belarusians living abroad to exercise their right to vote, no transparent system for counting votes and without the participation of international observers, cannot be deemed free, fair, competitive or credible;

3. Reiterates its call on the Lukashenka regime to fully comply with the OSCE international standards for elections, as adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee, which imposes an obligation on states to adopt all the necessary legislative and other measures to ensure that every citizen can enjoy the right to vote and to be elected, as well as the right to have access to public services;

4. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Belarus, including Maria Kalesnikava, Ihar Losik, Mikalai Statkevich, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ales Bialiatski, Maksim Znak and Dzmitry Kuchuk; urges the regime in Belarus to fully respect human rights, the right to freedom of association, including for political parties, and to end all forms of repression, persecution and intimidation, without delay;

5. Urges the Belarusian authorities to respect the human rights of detainees, supply information about their situation, provide the necessary medical treatment and allow access for lawyers, family members and the International Committee of the Red Cross;

6. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the international community to redouble efforts to free political prisoners in Belarus; calls on the EU Delegation in Minsk to follow cases of political prisoners as closely as possible;

7. Considers the arrest and sentencing of Mikalai Khila, a local staff member of the EU Delegation in Minsk, on apparently politically motivated charges, a diplomatic affront to the EU; calls on the Commission and the Member States to swiftly develop a robust diplomatic response;

8. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to simplify the procedures for obtaining visas and residence permits for those fleeing Belarus for political reasons, as well as to prepare rules and procedures to deal with cases of statelessness, and to provide support for the Belarusians residing in the EU whose identity documents are about to expire and who have no means of renewing them without returning to Belarus;

9. Calls on the Member States to ensure that efforts to document international crimes committed by the Lukashenka regime and to hold those responsible to account are continued at UN level with enhanced scrutiny by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the human rights situation in Belarus, by providing full support to the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, and by preserving the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus for continued monitoring of ongoing human rights violations; stresses to this end the importance of collecting evidence of potential international crimes and providing further authoritative legal qualification under international law of continuing grave abuses, with a view to advancing accountability;

10. Echoes the recommendation by the OHCHR to further accountability through national proceedings based on accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction and calls on the Member States to ensure sufficient resources for the investigation of universal jurisdiction cases;

11. Calls for the extension of the EU’s sanctions regime towards Belarus, which is set to expire at the end of February 2025, and urges the Commission to further expand targeted sanctions against the individuals responsible for human rights abuses and the erosion of democracy and the rule of law in the country, specifically this month’s farcical ‘elections’;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the OSCE, the United Nations, the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces, and the authorities of Belarus.