On the situation in Belarus, five years after the stolen presidential elections

B100453/2025

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Belarus, five years after the stolen presidential elections

(2025/2900(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus,

– having regard to the joint statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Commissioner Marta Kos on 9 August 2025 on the fifth anniversary of the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus,

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

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– 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, protesting against the fraudulent election or speaking out against systematic human rights violations;

B. whereas, since 2020, tens of thousands of people have been arbitrarily detained and, as of 14 October 2025, 1 220 political prisoners remain in Belarus, many of whom suffer under life-threatening conditions;

C. whereas on 27 March 2025, the Council adopted additional restrictive measures against a further 25 individuals and seven entities in Belarus linked to internal repression in the country; whereas on 18 July 2025, the Council adopted the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes measures in view of Belarus’s continued complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine;

D. whereas 40 political prisoners have recently been released from prison, while Belarusian human rights organisations have had to add 70 more people to the list of recognised political prisoners in September 2025 alone;

E. whereas the democratic opposition in Belarus was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2020;

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;

2. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Sakharov Prize laureates Mariya Kalesnikava and Mikalai Statkevich, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, and many others, including Viktar Babaryka, Maksim Znak, Aliaksandr Yarachuk, Iryna Takarchuk, and of all persons arbitrarily detained, arrested or sentenced on politically motivated grounds, many of whom have been held incommunicado for months or even years, have severe health problems and are subjected to isolation, ill-treatment and torture;

3. Urgently calls for all charges against the political prisoners 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 detention conditions to be provided, and 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;

4. Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to support these 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 whereabouts, 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;

5. Reiterates its concern about the situation regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus, including the unabated systematic repression, the crackdown on 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;

6. 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; 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;

7. Recalls that the EU and its Member States did not recognise the results of either the August 2020 presidential election or the January 2025 presidential election and do not recognise Aliaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus;

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

9. Denounces the Lukashenka regime’s complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and condemns its deliberate subordination of Belarus to Moscow through a so-called union state encompassing political, geopolitical, economic, military and cultural spheres; urges the EU and its international partners to broaden and strengthen sanctions against individuals and entities responsible not only for systematic repression in Belarus but also for Belarus’s participation in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while 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;

10. 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 addressing the situation in Belarus within 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 increasing international scrutiny of the regime’s human rights violations and galvanising the international community into action on the situation in Belarus;

11. 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;

12. 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 contacts 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;

13. 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 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;

14. 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.