>**Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern over human rights in Belarus and stating that the country’s “sovereignty and identity are increasingly under threat.”**
>The statement marked four years since the violent put-down of protests over a presidential election widely seen as rigged. Borrell said that despite the “violent repression” since then, “the Belarusian people have repeatedly and bravely stood up for their human rights and their country’s democratic future.”
>He said that Belarus’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been at Minsk’s helm for 30 years, responded to protests in 2020 “with a massive campaign of violence and intimidation,” which has resulted in “around 1,400 political prisoners currently in detention.”
>Borrell highlighted that at least six prisoners have died while incarcerated and many more have been held in isolation while some have life threatening medical conditions that require urgent treatment.
>“Such treatment of prisoners and detainees is in violation of international law and Belarus’ own commitments,” the statement argued, going on to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all “political prisoners and unjustly detained people.”
>“Belarusian sovereignty and identity are increasingly under threat,” Borrell wrote. “In addition to wide-scale domestic repression, the Belarusian regime has been complicit in Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Besides political, military and logistical support, it has contributed to the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia,” he added.
>**Hybrid war**
>Brussels’ top diplomat also drew attention to a migration crisis on Belarus’s borders with Poland and Lithuania that the EU blames on a hybrid war tactic of Lukashenko’s regime.
>The statement highlights sanctions the bloc has imposed on Minsk, including the latest round, adopted on August 5, which applied to 28 individuals involved in “inter alia, human rights violations, politically motivated trials, and state propaganda activities.”
>“Altogether, 261 individuals and 37 entities and bodies are currently subject to EU individual restrictive measures,” the text stated.
>Borrell said the EU remained united in its support for the people of Belarus and its democratic movement, adding: “Once Belarus embarks on a democratic transition, the EU will provide support to stabilize its economy and reform its institutions, including through a Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support of up to EUR 3 billion.”Source: PAP, EU External Action Service
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>**Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern over human rights in Belarus and stating that the country’s “sovereignty and identity are increasingly under threat.”**
>The statement marked four years since the violent put-down of protests over a presidential election widely seen as rigged. Borrell said that despite the “violent repression” since then, “the Belarusian people have repeatedly and bravely stood up for their human rights and their country’s democratic future.”
>He said that Belarus’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been at Minsk’s helm for 30 years, responded to protests in 2020 “with a massive campaign of violence and intimidation,” which has resulted in “around 1,400 political prisoners currently in detention.”
>Borrell highlighted that at least six prisoners have died while incarcerated and many more have been held in isolation while some have life threatening medical conditions that require urgent treatment.
>“Such treatment of prisoners and detainees is in violation of international law and Belarus’ own commitments,” the statement argued, going on to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all “political prisoners and unjustly detained people.”
>“Belarusian sovereignty and identity are increasingly under threat,” Borrell wrote. “In addition to wide-scale domestic repression, the Belarusian regime has been complicit in Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Besides political, military and logistical support, it has contributed to the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia,” he added.
>**Hybrid war**
>Brussels’ top diplomat also drew attention to a migration crisis on Belarus’s borders with Poland and Lithuania that the EU blames on a hybrid war tactic of Lukashenko’s regime.
>The statement highlights sanctions the bloc has imposed on Minsk, including the latest round, adopted on August 5, which applied to 28 individuals involved in “inter alia, human rights violations, politically motivated trials, and state propaganda activities.”
>“Altogether, 261 individuals and 37 entities and bodies are currently subject to EU individual restrictive measures,” the text stated.
>Borrell said the EU remained united in its support for the people of Belarus and its democratic movement, adding: “Once Belarus embarks on a democratic transition, the EU will provide support to stabilize its economy and reform its institutions, including through a Comprehensive Plan of Economic Support of up to EUR 3 billion.”Source: PAP, EU External Action Service