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B100454/2025
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Belarus, five years after the fraudulent presidential elections
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus, in particular those adopted since the fraudulent presidential elections of 2020,
– having regard to the joint statementstatements by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and(VP/HR) theand Commissioner for EnlargementKos of 9 August 2025 on the fifth anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus, and to the statements by the VP/HR of 1 August 2024 on the release of a number of political prisoners, of 26 February 2024 on the parliamentary and local elections, and of 8 August 2023 on the third anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections,
– having regard to the statement by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU of 17 September 2025 on the joint strategic military exercise ZAPAD-2025,
– having regard to the Council conclusions on Belarus of 12 October 2020 and 19 February 2024,
– having regard to the statements by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 26 February 2024 on parliamentary and local elections and of 1 August 2024 on the release of a number of political prisoners, and the statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU of 8 August 2023 on the third anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections,
– having regard to the European Council conclusions on Belarus of 21 and 22 October 2021,
– having regard to the Council conclusions on Belarus of 12 October 2020 and 19 February 2024 and to the European Council conclusions on Belarus of 22 October 2021,
– having regard to the Letter of Intent on Cooperation between the European Parliament and the Belarusian Democratic Forces, signed on 3 May 2024,
– having regard to the Luxembourg Solutions on addressing the specific challenges faced by the Belarusians in exile, adopted on 6 and 7 June 2024 under the auspices of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
– having regard to the report of the UN Special Rapporteur of 22 April 2025 on human rights developments in Belarus between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, and to the report of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of 25 March 2024 on the situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international human rights instruments to which Belarus is a party,
– having regard to the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 24 June 2025 entitled ‘Legal and human rights issues in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine’, which holds Aliaksandr Lukashenka responsible for the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus,
– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to Rules 136(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas five years after the fraudulent presidential election of 9 August 2020, Belarus remains under the authoritarian rule of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, whose regime continues to systematically target political activists, civil society, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, artists, religious leaders, trade unionists and other groups in Belarus and abroad, subjecting thousands to arbitrary detention, repression, torture, forced disappearances, and suppression of fundamental freedoms;
A. whereas more than five years after the fraudulent presidential elections of 9 August 2020 and the ensuing brutal crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protests, the human rights situation in Belarus remains critical; whereas the illegitimate regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka has, with Russian support, conducted a relentless campaign of repression against peaceful protesters, democratic leaders, lawyers, journalists, athletes, artists, trade unions, religious leaders, civil society actors and others;
B. whereas following the fraudulent 2020 presidential election and the subsequent brutal crackdown, the EU and many of its democratic partners did not recognise the results of the elections or Aliaksandr Lukashenka as legitimate leader and President of Belarus;
B.C. whereas the mass mobilisation of Belarusian citizens in 2020 represented an unprecedented demand for democracy, justice and human rightsrights; andwhereas the regime’s response was metcharacterised withby systemic human rights violations, including masswidespread arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and at least a dozenthe confirmed deathsdeath of peaceful protesters; whereas the victims include Vitold Ashurak, Alena Amelina, Raman Bandarenka, Valery Bohdan, Hanna Kandratsenka, Tamara Karavai, Vadzim Khrasko, Mikalai Klimovich, Aliaksandr Kulinich, Ihar Lednik, Uladzimir Krysionak, Mikita Kryucou, Andrei Padniabenny, Artsyom Parukau, Ales Pushkin, Dzmitry Sarokin, Siarhei Shchatsinka, Dzmitry Shlethauer, Valiantsin Shtermer, Dzmitry Stakhouski, Kanstantsin Shyshmakou, Aliaksandr Taraikouski and Aliaksandr Vikhor, whose deaths exemplify the regime’s contempt forat humanleast lifea anddozen fundamentalpeaceful rights;protesters;
C. whereas none of Belarus’s past six presidential elections were free or fair, including the sham elections of 26 January 2025, which were conducted amid arrests and repression; whereas the Lukashenka regime maintains an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, suppressing political dissent, muzzling freedom of expression and preventing peaceful assembly; whereas the sham elections were not observed by any official missions from any democratic countries, and the European Parliament and like-minded partners did not recognise them;
D. whereas since 2020 hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have fled the country, seeking refuge from persecution, arbitrary detention, and repression, and continue to face political intimidation, even abroad;
D. whereas the 31-year authoritarian regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka has been characterised by the systematic repression of political opponents and dissent, including the enforced disappearance of Lukashenka’s critics; whereas Lukashenka remains in power largely through the loyalty of the establishment and the security forces, and with significant political, economic, propaganda and security support from the Russian Federation;
E. whereas the authoritarian regime in Belarus continues to drift towards totalitarianism, intensifying political repression and persecution, destroying independent media, requiring political loyalty as a precondition for participation in public life, and continuing the widespread use of torture, arbitrary detention and forced exile;
E. whereas, according to the Human Rights Center ‘Viasna’, over 8 900 individuals have faced politically motivated charges since 2020, with over 1 200 political prisoners still detained, many of whom are being held in poor conditions that put their lives at risk; whereas 96 cases of political repression were recorded in September 2025 alone, with 77 individuals being recognised as political prisoners that month;
F. whereas on 26 January 2025, a presidential election was held in Belarus, in which Lukashenka was declared the winner with 86.8 % of the vote; whereas these elections, although held without mass protests, failed to meet international standards;
F. whereas several political prisoners have died in custody or soon after being released as a result of the inhumane conditions they endured in prison; whereas international organisations, including the OHCHR, have documented systematic human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detentions, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, enforced disappearances, forced labour, denial of medical care, restricted access to visits by lawyers and family members, solitary confinement, persecution on political or national grounds, deportation, and suppression of fundamental freedoms; whereas the penitentiary system functions as a network of slave-labour camps, with prisoners, including political detainees, being forced to work in unsafe and degrading conditions;
G. whereas despite the pardon of approximately 52 political prisoners in September 2025, more than 1 000 political prisoners remain unjustly detained under inhumane and life-threatening conditions;
G. whereas female political prisoners, of whom there are over 175, face targeted abuse, humiliation and threats of losing their children, while international monitors are barred from prisons;
H. whereas Lukashenka remains in power largely through the continued loyalty of the Belarusian elite, police and security forces, and with significant political and economic support from the Russian Federation, including in the area of security;
H. whereas the regime employs mass surveillance, censorship and disinformation, targeting both domestic audiences and the EU; whereas ‘extremism’ is the most common pretext for prosecuting political prisoners, and the regime’s ‘list of extremists’ now includes more than 5 800 people; whereas the judiciary, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies have been instrumentalised to commit human rights violations and crimes against humanity;
I. whereas Lukashenka’s regime has become complicit in international war crimes, notably through its collaboration with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, its role in the deportation and kidnapping of Ukrainian children, and its acceptance of the permanent militarisation of Belarusian territory by Russian forces, thereby undermining NATO’s deterrence posture and undercutting the EU’s security policy;
I. whereas at least five political prisoners are still being held incommunicado, namely Viktar Babaryka, Maksim Znak, Uladzimir Kniha, Aliaksandr Aranovich and Mikalai Statkevich; whereas Maria Kalesnikava was long held incommunicado, with a letter from her recently reaching the outside world for the first time in 2.5 years; whereas Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and a member of the Union of Poles in Belarus, who has serious health problems, was sentenced to multiple years in prison and remains imprisoned under harsh conditions, in an isolation cell; whereas Andrzej Poczobut is one of the finalists for Parliament’s 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought; whereas Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski is being subjected to forced labour and punishments while imprisoned, while being denied essential medical care;
J. whereas Belarus has become a military foothold for Russia, falling into deep political, economic and informational dependence on the Kremlin, thereby undermining regional stability and European security;
J. whereas Lukashenka ‘pardoned’ over 200 political prisoners in 2024 in an attempt to have certain Western sanctions lifted, yet political arrests continued, with at least 1 721 convictions on political charges in 2024 alone; whereas the regime continued to release prisoners in 2025 but also arrested many others, using detainees as bargaining chips to extort concessions from Western countries; whereas the political prisoners who were released have shared accounts of torture;
K. whereas the Belarusian regime has further aligned itself with the Russian Federation, providing logistical and military support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including by allowing Russian troops and equipment to operate from Belarusian territory when launching the assault on Ukraine in February 2022; whereas joint military exercises such as Zapad 2025 and the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil increase regional instability;
K. whereas Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a laureate of Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, was released on 21 June 2025 after more than five years of imprisonment and solitary confinement, along with 13 other political prisoners; whereas 2020 Sakharov Prize laureate Mikalai Statkevich, who was among those released, refused to cross the border to Lithuania, was imprisoned again and is being held incommunicado;
L. whereas the regime has also engaged in hybrid operations against the EU, including orchestrated migration pressure on EU borders and facilitating or tolerating drone incursions from Belarusian territory into neighbouring Member States, notably Poland, in what constitutes deliberate destabilisation efforts;
L. whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus has noted the systematic purging of civil society organisations since 2020, targeting human rights groups, independent trade unions, political parties and religious organisations; whereas nearly 2 000 civil society groups, including non-governmental organisations and labour unions, have been shut down; whereas the Lukashenka regime employs anti-extremism laws to obstruct independent media, most of which are now labelled ‘extremist’; whereas, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, 33 media representatives, including journalists, reporters and bloggers, are currently imprisoned, 83 media workers have been prosecuted over the past five years and over 400 remain in exile ; whereas independent media, such as Belsat TV, Charter 97, Nexta, Radio Racyja, Radio Svaboda and Nasha Niva, provide essential information and platforms for democratic voices;
M. whereas the Belarusian people overwhelmingly oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, a stance which has helped to limit Belarus’s direct involvement in the conflict and demonstrates the Belarusian nation’s commitment to peace, independence and European values;
M. whereas the Lukashenka regime has been marked by the deliberate destruction of the national identity of Belarusians, including their language and culture; whereas since 2020, more than 6 000 teachers have lost their jobs as a result of repression, more than 50 have been imprisoned, and education in the Belarusian language is being dismantled amid the increasing militarisation of schools; whereas higher education institutions and academics in exile are being intimidated and labelled ‘extremist organisations’;
N. whereas, despite persecution, physical danger and threats to their lives, democratic Belarusian leaders in exile continue their work with courage and determination, often at huge personal risk, advocating for human rights and representing the aspirations of the Belarusian people for a free, democratic and independent Belarus;
N. whereas under Lukashenka, more than 250 people sentenced to death have been executed; whereas Belarus remains the only country in Europe and Central Asia to retain the death penalty, with its scope expanded in 2022 to include vaguely defined acts of terrorism and in 2023 to include ‘treason against the state’;
O. whereas Parliament and the Belarusian democratic forces remain steadfast in their shared commitment to restoring democracy in Belarus through free and fair elections, the rule of law, and the promotion of Belarus’s European integration as a guarantee of its independence and sovereignty;
O. whereas more than 500 000 Belarusians have fled the country since 2020, with some continuing to face persecution and intimidation from the Lukashenka regime, including through trials in absentia, threats from the security forces and pressure on relatives, confiscation of property and other restrictions; whereas restrictions on renewing Belarusian documents from outside Belarus leave exiles in legal limbo; whereas returning to Belarus is dangerous, as many of those who have returned since 2020 have been convicted on politically motivated charges; whereas the Belarusian regime is among the top ten perpetrators of transnational repression;
P. whereas the EU has mobilised more than EUR 170 million since 2020 to support Belarusian civil society, independent media and victims of repression, and continues to impose sanctions on those responsible for undermining democracy and violating human rights;
P. whereas freedom of religion and belief in Belarus continues to deteriorate; whereas Belarusian clergy members and believers face systematic pressure, including criminal and administrative prosecution, raids on places of worship, and branding of independent religious initiatives as ‘extremist formations’; whereas several members of the Christian clergy remain behind bars for their religious work, including Siarhei Rezanovich, Andrzej Juchniewicz, Henryk Okołotowicz, Grzegorz Gaweł and Aleh Loika;
Q. whereas sustained and coordinated pressure on the Lukashenka regime, including through the use of targeted and effective sanctions, remains one of the key instruments in compelling it to make meaningful concessions to the forces of democracy, including the release of all political prisoners and the cessation of repression;
Q. whereas the LGBTQ+ community in Belarus continues to face harassment, including arbitrary arrests; whereas in an effort to copy Russia’s brand of discriminatory propaganda legislation, Belarus has conducted further attacks against the LGBTQ+ community; whereas a new draft law proposes imprisonment for sharing information on LGBTQ+ issues, childlessness or ‘recognising paedophilia as acceptable’, posing a serious risk of mass censorship and harassment; whereas including paedophilia in the same list as LGBTQ+ and childlessness is a deliberate manipulation;
R. whereas, during the visit by the US Special Envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, to Minsk on 21 June 2025, the Belarusian authorities released fourteen political prisoners, including former presidential candidate Siarhei Tsikhanouski, after nearly five years of imprisonment; whereas, however, many more political prisoners remain behind bars;
R. whereas in recent years, the Lukashenka regime has stepped up pressure on the staff of Western diplomatic missions accredited in Belarus and on other foreigners in the country;
S. whereas Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and member of the Union of Poles in Belarus, was arrested on 18 March 2021, and later sentenced to three years in prison on charges of ‘publicly insulting the President of Belarus’ and ‘inciting ethnic hatred’; whereas on 8 February 2023 the Hrodna Regional Court found him guilty of encouraging actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus and inciting ethnic hostility, and sentenced him to eight years in prison, where he remains to this day;
S. whereas, despite persecution and threats, Belarusian democratic leaders in exile continue their work with courageously, advocating for human rights and representing the aspirations of the Belarusian people for a free, democratic and independent Belarus; whereas the European Parliament and the Belarusian democratic forces remain committed to restoring democracy through free and fair elections, the rule of law and European integration;
T. whereas the Lukashenka regime continues to force migrants from non-EU countries across its borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as part of a hybrid attack on the EU; whereas migrants in Belarus face torture and other ill treatment by border guards and other officials;
T. whereas the Lukashenka regime has enabled Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by giving Russian forces access to Belarusian territory and supplying them with ammunition, fuel and other supplies; whereas Article 133 of the Belarusian Criminal Code provides that mercenary activity is punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment, yet no Belarusian fighting for Russia has been convicted of this offence since 2014; whereas the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil increases regional instability and threatens European security; whereas the Lukashenka regime, with Russian assistance, circumvents certain sanctions through preferential market access and the use of Russian infrastructure;
1. Reiterates its non-recognition of Aliaksandr Lukashenka as President of Belarus and considers any elections conducted under his regime as fraudulent and illegitimate; acknowledges the widespread evidence and numerous testimonies indicating that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election, while the Lukashenka regime unlawfully seized power and refused to acknowledge her victory;
U. whereas the Belarusian people overwhelmingly oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, a stance which has helped to limit Belarus’s direct involvement in the conflict and demonstrates the Belarusian nation’s commitment to peace, independence and European values;
2. Continues to express grave concern about the situation of political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, Maria Kalesnikava, Viktar Babaryka, Andrzej Poczobut, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Maksim Znak, Uladzimir Matskevich, Marfa Rabkova, Uladzimir Labkovich, Anastasiya Loika, Yana Pinchuk, Mikalai Bankou, Andrei Navitski, Henrykh Akalatovich, Uladzimir Kniha, Mikalai Statkevich, Pavel Sieviarynets and others, many of whom have no access to proper medical care, despite facing severe health issues, isolation, ill-treatment and torture; calls on Member State diplomats and representatives to actively support relevant organisations that advocate for political prisoners and, where appropriate, to seek ways to provide direct political support to prisoners in Belarus;
V. whereas, according to the US State Department’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, Belarus is one of the main hubs for human trafficking and continues to inflict forced labour on Belarusians and foreign citizens; whereas the Belarusian authorities have transferred more than 2 400 unaccompanied children from vulnerable Ukrainian communities to Belarus, placing them in institutions where many have been subjected to ‘re-education’ and military training; whereas the Belarusian regime is actively copying Russian policies to destroy Ukrainian identity through the indoctrination of Ukrainian children;
3. Strongly condemns the ongoing repression of political opponents, journalists, civil society activists and cultural figures in Belarus; demands the immediate and unconditional release of all unjustly imprisoned political prisoners, journalists and media workers, and the full restoration of their civil and political rights; calls for strengthened international efforts to secure the release of all political prisoners, ensuring that no one is subjected to forced deportation from Belarus; commends the efforts of the US administration in this regard and its tangible results;
W. whereas Belarusian children are being groomed for military service under the guise of ‘patriotic education’, with thousands taking part in military-patriotic club activities; whereas the rhetoric of ‘patriotic education’ conceals the militarisation of minors, their training in the use of combat weapons and their indoctrination with pro-Russian narratives;
4. Demands that the Belarusian authorities cease the criminalisation of journalism, end the harassment of journalists both within Belarus and in exile, and halt intimidation of their family members; calls for the protection of independent media and of freedom of expression as essential elements of a democratic society;
X. whereas the Belarusian regime has further aligned itself with the Russian Federation; whereas from 12 to 16 September 2025, Belarus held the Zapad 2025 joint strategic military exercise with Russia, the first such exercise since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022; whereas on 12 September 2025, Poland was forced to temporarily close all border crossings with Belarus, citing concerns over a possible escalation;
5. Strongly condemns the authorities of Belarus for blocking independent media, restricting access to the internet, and arresting journalists and bloggers, which contravenes international standards of press freedom;
Y. whereas Belarus assists attempts by Russia and other actors to destabilise the EU and undermine European aspirations among the EU’s neighbours; whereas Belarusian and Russian instructors in Serbia trained over 150 pro-Russian activists from the Republic of Moldova to destabilise Moldova after the recent elections there; whereas Moldova has refused entry to 195 Russian and Belarusian athletes and activists, including Dzmitry Shakuta, one of the suspects in the murder of Belarusian democratic activist Raman Bandarenka;
6. Deplores the fact that the repressive measures in Belarus have expanded to include attacks on religious freedom, through the adoption of the law on freedom of conscience and religious organisations, which grossly violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion, conscience and belief; urges the Lukashenka regime to immediately halt the persecution of religious communities and churches;
Z. whereas Belarus continues to instrumentalise migration at its borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, deliberately gathering migrants and forcing them to move towards the EU’s external borders; whereas Belarus is experiencing an acute labour shortage as a result of repression, arbitrary detention and forced emigration; whereas the Lukashenka regime has concluded agreements with non-EU countries with the alleged aim of attracting labour; whereas these arrangements exacerbate the risk of migration being instrumentalised against the EU; whereas following Lukashenka’s return from Moscow in September 2025, the Belarusian regime stepped up its hybrid actions regarding the instrumentalisation of migration to destabilise the EU; whereas the regime has also facilitated or tolerated incursions of drones and weather balloons from Belarusian territory into neighbouring EU Member States, endangering aviation and forcing the closure of airports, thereby posing a threat to the security and economies of these countries;
7. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the Lukashenka regime’s involvement in Russia’s unjustified, illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine; considers that the Lukashenka regime has become an accomplice in the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine; deems, furthermore, that the special international tribunal on the crime of aggression perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine must also have the jurisdiction to investigate the Belarusian leadership;
AA. whereas the intelligence services of Czechia, Hungary and Romania dismantled a Belarusian spy network operating under diplomatic cover, which allowed it unrestricted movement within the EU;
8. Denounces the illegal transfer of several thousand children, including orphans, from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to so-called recreational camps in Belarus, where they are subjected to Russification and indoctrination; strongly condemns the involvement of the Belarus Red Cross in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children; asks the Commission and other relevant bodies to support the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative in every possible way;
AB. whereas the Astravets nuclear power plant, located on the border between Belarus and Lithuania, has been plagued by problems, and Belarus is now planning to build a nuclear waste dump near the Lithuanian border; whereas the Lukashenka regime also plans to build a second nuclear power plant in the east of the country to supply electricity, including to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine;
9. Supports the establishment of an international accountability mechanism to investigate and prosecute the crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime;
AC. whereas the EU has mobilised EUR 170 million since 2020 to support Belarusian civil society, independent media and victims of repression, and has imposed targeted sanctions on Belarus in response to the 2020 fraudulent elections, human rights violations, and Belarus’s complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including trade restrictions and sanctions on 310 individuals, among them Lukashenka, and 46 entities;
10. Calls on the Member States and the international community to prepare the ground for the criminal prosecution of Aliaksandr Lukashenka and the Belarusian officials responsible for falsifying the 2020 election results and escalating human rights violations in its aftermath, under the accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction; highlights the invaluable work carried out by human rights defenders and civil society representatives on the ground in monitoring, documenting and reporting the grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity that are taking place in Belarus, in order to ensure subsequent accountability and justice for the victims;
AD. whereas the announced cuts in US support for Belarusian independent media and non-governmental organisations could lead to some organisations losing all their funding; whereas European partners have only partly filled the gap;
11. Strongly warns the Commission and the European External Action Service, as well as all other EU institutions, bodies and Member States and their representatives that, for the EU to maintain its international credibility and moral authority, and regain trust, it must commit to serious and tangible efforts on the ground rather than engaging solely in performative symbolic gestures on social media platforms; urges all relevant EU institutions to prioritise real and measurable progress in the protection of human rights in Belarus;
1. Reaffirms its strong condemnation of the repression in Belarus and its firm solidarity with all those who continue to fight the Lukashenka regime’s massive and systematic repression in the country; reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and arbitrarily detained persons, along with compensation and the restoration of their rights; condemns the instrumentalisation of the judiciary, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to commit human rights violations and crimes against humanity;
12. Insists on the establishment of an EU Special Representative for Belarus, preferably a former high-ranking political figure, tasked with negotiating with Belarusian authorities and officials and with doing everything possible to secure the release of all political prisoners being held in the country;
2. Expresses grave concern about the situation of political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, Maria Kalesnikava, Viktar Babaryka, Andrzej Poczobut, Mikalai Statkevich, Valiantsin Stefanovic, Maksim Znak, Marfa Rabkova, Uladzimir Labkovich, Anastasiya Loika, Iryna Takarchuk, Yana Pinchuk, Mikalai Bankou, Andrei Navitski, Henrykh Akalatovich, Uladzimir Kniha, Pavel Seviarynets and others, many of whom face severe health issues without access to proper medical care and are enduring isolation, ill-treatment and torture; reiterates its calls on the Belarusian authorities to respect detainees’ rights, provide medical care, and grant access to lawyers, families and international organisations;
13. Remains firmly committed to maintaining and strengthening pressure on the Lukashenka regime through robust, targeted and readily adaptable sanctions that address electoral fraud, human rights abuses, Belarus’s complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and its hybrid warfare against neighbouring states;
3. Reiterates its call for the EU and the Member States to support political prisoners and their families, including by demanding proof of political prisoners’ whereabouts, requesting their release, simplifying the procedures for obtaining visas and identity documents, and providing rehabilitation and other support; calls on the EU Delegation and the Member State embassies in Belarus to continue observing and monitoring the trials of political prisoners wherever possible; calls for immediate and independent investigations into all deaths in custody of political prisoners; 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, prepare common rules and procedures to deal with cases of statelessness, as well as to provide support for those Belarusians residing in the EU whose identity documents are about to expire and who have no means of renewing them without returning to Belarus;
14. Calls on the EU and its Member States to adopt further coordinated sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for repression and for supporting Russia’s aggression; urges the EU to develop a mechanism for identifying, freezing and confiscating assets owned by Lukashenka, his family, and members of his regime, and to redirect the proceeds to victims of repression and to Belarusian democratic initiatives;
4. Reiterates that it does not recognise Aliaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus and reaffirms its support for the Belarusian democratic forces led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and for the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people; calls for the EU and its Member States to work with non-EU countries to strengthen the policy of the non-recognition of Lukashenka as Belarus’s president; stresses the importance of sustained EU engagement with Belarusian democratic actors, ensuring that their efforts have political, financial and security support;
15. Welcomes the unity and solidarity shown by the EU and the Member States in addressing the multifaceted threats which the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka poses to the EU, in particular through the continued and growing state-engineered instrumentalisation of migration, which deliberately causes human suffering at Belarus’s borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and beyond; strongly condemns the Belarusian authorities’ use of migration for political ends and sees this as a purposefully orchestrated reprisal by the Lukashenka regime against the EU Member States for their support for the democratic forces of Belarus, with the aim of destabilising those Member States; supports the determined efforts undertaken by the Member States concerned to protect their borders, including by constructing physical barriers, such as border fences, as deterrents;
5. Reiterates its previous calls for new, free and fair elections to be organised under international observation by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); 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;
16. Calls for increased support to key democratic structures, such as the Office of the Elected President Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transitional Cabinet, the Coordination Council and democratic political parties, to build their capacity and prepare them – as credible alternative institutions – to assume leadership during a democratic transition;
6. Warns against Lukashenka’s instrumentalisation of political prisoners to extort concessions from the West; notes the release of dozens of political prisoners and encourages the EU, the United States and other like-minded partners to continue working for the effective release of all political prisoners in Belarus while further increasing pressure on the regime; reiterates that each time prisoners have been released, others have subsequently been taken into captivity; expresses serious concern over the lifting of the US sanctions imposed on the Belarusian airline Belavia after the 2021 Ryanair flight hijacking, noting that Belavia is complicit in the instrumentalisation of migration;
17. Urges the Member States to allow Belarusian citizens who are long-term EU residents and whose documents have expired to remain within, and travel throughout, the EU, without the obligation to return to Belarus, where they risk persecution;
7. Commends the resilience of Belarusian civil society and the Belarusian democratic forces; reiterates its solidarity with the people of Belarus and its support for their legitimate aspirations for a democratic and European future, and remains committed to working with Belarusian democratic forces, civil society and independent media for the benefit of the people of Belarus;
18. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to continue consultative work with the Belarusian democratic forces to lay the conceptual, legislative and human rights framework for Belarus’s transition to democracy in line with EU standards;
8. Calls for the EU and its Member States to continue to support Belarusian democratic forces, civil society, students, researchers, journalists, trade union leaders, exiled professionals and others, including by providing them with visas, scholarships, grants, networking opportunities and measures to ensure their safety; calls for independent media to be guaranteed systemic and multi-year assistance, including funding, and for the capacity-building of key democratic structures to be strengthened, including the Office of the Elected President Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transitional Cabinet, the Coordination Council, and democratic political parties;
19. Calls for the EU and its Member States to support the democratic forces led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in every possible way;
9.20. Calls foron the EU and international organisations to formalise the representation of the Belarusian democratic forces in international forums such as the Council of EuropeEuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly andCouncil theof NATOEurope Parliamentary Assembly; commendsAssembly, the activeParliamentary participationAssembly of the UnitedOrganization Transitionalfor CabinetSecurity and Coordination Council within the EuroNest ParliamentaryCooperation Assembly,in includingEurope, throughand the dedicated Working GroupNATO onParliamentary Belarus;Assembly;
10. Calls on the Member States to urgently counter and put an end to the alarming level of transnational repression conducted by the Lukashenka regime, including on the territory of the EU; expresses concern about 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 who 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; stresses the importance of protecting exiled Belarusians from persecution by the Lukashenka regime and of ensuring that they can access legal residence and employment in the EU;
21. Calls on the EU and individual Member States to further formalise the representation of Belarusian democratic forces by supporting them in opening offices across European capitals and allowing them to issue provisional documents to exiled Belarusian citizens;
11. Demands that the Belarusian authorities cease the criminalisation of journalism, end the harassment of journalists both within Belarus and in exile, and halt intimidation of their family members; strongly condemns the authorities of Belarus for blocking independent media, restricting access to the internet, and arresting journalists and bloggers, which contravenes international standards of press freedom; call for the release of all jailed journalists, including Katsyaryna Andreeva;
22. Calls on all Member States to simplify procedures for visa issuance to Belarusian citizens threatened by the Lukashenka regime;
12. Condemns the persecution of the Polish minority group in Belarus and its representatives, including decisions aiming to shut down Polish schools and eliminate education in the Polish language, as well as the deliberate destruction of Polish cemeteries and heritage;
23. Calls on all Member States to create solid visa programmes for Belarusian students, researchers and representatives of academia;
13. Deplores the fact that the repressive measures in Belarus have expanded to include attacks on religious freedom through the adoption of the law on freedom of conscience and religious organisations, which grossly violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion, conscience and belief; urges the Lukashenka regime to immediately halt the persecution of religious communities and churches;
24. Calls on the Member States to help Lithuania and Poland in their efforts to secure the functioning and funding of the Belarusian government in exile and of free Belarusian media outlets stationed in Lithuania and Poland;
14. Urges Belarus to commute all death sentences, impose a moratorium on capital punishment and move towards its permanent abolition;
25. Reaffirms its unwavering support for the Belarusian people in their pursuit of democracy, freedom and human rights;
15. Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to continue investigating human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in Belarus and to support measures to hold those responsible to account, including through extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction; calls for the EU and its Member States to support the Lithuanian Government’s referral of the situation in Belarus to the International Criminal Court in connection with the perpetration of transnational crimes against humanity; encourages the Member States to join the proceedings initiated by Lithuania before the International Court of Justice concerning Belarus’s instrumentalisation of migration; welcomes the unity and solidarity shown by the EU and the Member States in addressing the multifaceted threats that the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka poses to the EU;
26. Prioritises support for Belarusian diaspora communities as key actors of resilience and advocacy in the sense and spirit of the Luxembourg Solutions adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, including through improved visa access and residence permit procedures and stronger legal protection within the EU; requests increased funding for educational, cultural and identity-preserving projects that safeguard the Belarusian language, culture and national identity while countering Kremlin narratives abroad;
16. Welcomes the continued documentation of human rights violations by Belarusian non-governmental organisations such as Viasna; commends the work of Belarusian independent media in promoting freedom of expression, and emphasises the need to preserve their records for future judicial proceedings; calls for the EU and its Member States to provide concrete support for civil society organisations and human rights defenders working to collect and preserve evidence of the Lukashenka regime’s abuses and crimes against humanity, and to assist in transmitting such documentation to the competent international bodies, including the International Criminal Court;
27. Regards an approach towards Belarus that both empowers Belarus’s democratic transition and constrains Russia’s military use of its neighbour as an integral part of the EU’s long-term values-based security strategy and as essential to maintain the EU’s credibility as defender of a democratic Belarus;
17. Calls for the Member States to ensure that efforts to document and ensure accountability for international crimes committed by the Lukashenka regime are continued at UN level with a strengthened examination by the 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, chaired by Karinna Moskalenko, and by preserving the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, Nils Muižnieks, for continued scrutiny of ongoing human rights violations; stresses the need for continued cooperation between the EU, the UN, and international human rights mechanisms to ensure accountability for crimes committed by the Belarusian authorities; calls on the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandates of both the Special Rapporteur and the Group of Independent Experts beyond 2026, in order to guarantee the uninterrupted continuation of their vital work in monitoring, reporting, and supporting future accountability processes for human rights abuses in Belarus;
28. Strongly condemns incidents involving violations of airspace and blockades of transport corridors, such as the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in 2021;
18. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the Lukashenka regime’s involvement in Russia’s unjustified, illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine; considers that the Lukashenka regime has become an accomplice in the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine; considers the Belarusian regime to be complicit in the Russian militarisation of Ukrainian children; calls on the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into the displacement, indoctrination, and militarisation of Ukrainian children by the Belarusian regime; calls for the EU, its Member States and other relevant bodies to support, in any way necessary, Bring Kids Back UA, the initiative of the President of Ukraine to secure the return of Ukrainian children to Ukraine;
29. Commends the continued cooperation between the EU institutions, Member States, Belarusian democratic forces and international partners to support a peaceful transition based on democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights;
19. Expresses deep concern over Russia’s growing influence in Belarus, which threatens its existence as a sovereign state; denounces the militarisation of Belarusian territory by Russia, including though military exercises such as Zapad, and warns that the deployment of nuclear-capable systems undermines Europe’s security; requests increased funding for educational, cultural and identity-preserving projects that safeguard the Belarusian language, culture and national identity while combating the falsification of Belarusian history by the Lukashenka regime, and the Kremlin and its proxies;
30. 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 United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and the de facto authorities of the Republic of Belarus.
20. Expresses deep concern over the growing repression of the LGBTQ+ community, as Belarus follows the example of Russia and Georgia to suppress any visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in society;
21. Urges the EU and international partners to strengthen sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the evasion of sanctions, the undermining of democracy and the rule of law, repression, human rights violations and crimes against humanity and for Belarus’s participation in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while also closing sanctions loopholes; calls for the EU to impose sanctions on Belarusian entities and individuals responsible for the forced labour of political prisoners and on goods produced through such forced labour; calls on all EU-based companies to exercise particular diligence and terminate their relations with any Belarusian suppliers that use forced labour in their supply chains, suppress the civil and political rights of their employees or openly support the Lukashenka regime; reiterates its calls on EU and Western companies to cease their activities in Belarus;
22. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to impose targeted sanctions on intermediaries and enablers who knowingly evade Belarusian fertiliser sanctions, and on any persons or entities leasing production facilities, re-branding, re-packaging or falsifying the origin of Belarusian fertiliser, providing financing or insurance, or otherwise facilitating transit; urges stronger enforcement and enhanced cross-border information-sharing; notes the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s findings on EU routing and Lukashenka’s recent push to expand the use of crypto-assets and tokenisation as a sanctions workaround;
23. Calls for the EU and its Member States to launch thorough investigations into, and dismantle, Belarusian and Russian spy networks in the EU and the candidate countries, and stresses, once more, the need to impose restrictions on Russian and Belarusian diplomats in the Schengen area;
24. Calls for the EU and the individual Member States to further formalise the representation of Belarusian democratic forces within the EU by supporting them in opening offices across European capitals and allowing them to issue provisional documents to exiled Belarusian citizens;
25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Union / High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the relevant EU institutions, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the representatives of Belarusian democratic forces and the Belarusian de facto authorities.