Thursday

30th Nov 2023

EU pays tribute to Belarus 'revolutionaries'

  • Women have played a prominent role in the months-long street protests (Photo: Daria Buryakina for tut.by)

Top EU officials tried to boost Belarusian opposition morale by handing Europe's annual human rights award, the Sakharov prize, to one of their leaders-in-exile, Svetlana Tikhanvoskaya, in Brussels on Wednesday (16 December).

"Your cause and strength of spirit has shown the way to revolution ... and we pay tribute to you," European Parliament (EP) David Sassoli said in a speech.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We're fully aware of what's going on in your country ... we see the deplorable abuses and we see the violence," he added.

"In the EU, it is our moral duty to support them [Belarusian protesters]," he said.

Tikhanvoskaya herself, whose husband, also an activist, is in prison in Belarus, highlighted some of the regime's crimes.

She spoke of one unarmed man who was shot dead in the street and of a second one who was "kidnapped and beaten to death in a police station".

"Detainees [in police custody] are marked by colours to determine how severely they should be beaten", she said.

Police were also "deliberately infecting people with Covid-19," Tikhanvoskaya said.

"We call on Europe to be braver in her decisions and to support the people of Belarus now, not tomorrow," she added.

"This is not interference [in Belarus], but the duty of every self-respecting country," she said, alluding to Belarus regime propaganda on Western conspiracies.

Tikhanvoskaya spoke after the 19th weekend in a row of street protests, riot-police attacks, and mass detentions in Belarus following rigged elections in August.

At least seven people have been killed and thousands are being held behind bars, some on long sentences.

The EU has blacklisted 55 Belarusian officials, including president Alexander Lukashenko.

It is also preparing visa-bans and asset-freezes on oligarchs who feed him money in its next round of sanctions, due in mid-December.

Meanwhile, the EP building in the EU capital displayed photos on its facade of Belarusian women confronting riot squads to mark its Sakharov award.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and senior MEPs, such as German conservative Manfred Weber, came to hear Tikhanvoskaya speak and posed for photos.

Some MEPs took selfies with Tikhanvoskaya, in a sign of how well-known the former housewife-turned-politician has become internationally.

Tikhanvoskaya also met with EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, whose job it is to draft sanctions proposals.

They "exchanged assessments of the current situation in Belarus", Borrell's office said in a statement.

And Borrell's services were "in the process of finalising additional sanctions, which will target both individuals and entities," it confirmed.

Wednesday marked the third time in the past 16 years that the EU gave its Sakharov award to Belarusian activists, indicating the longevity of Lukashenko's regime, who first took power in 1994.

Exclusive

New EU sanctions to hit Belarusian oligarchs

Regime-linked Belarusian tycoons are to face new sanctions, while EU-Belarus relations are being cut to a minimum, according to an internal EU paper, seen by EUobserver.

EU blacklists Lukashenko and his eldest son

The EU has imposed a visa-ban and asset-freeze on president Alexander Lukashenko and his son, due to the "gravity of the situation" in Belarus after rigged elections in August.

Opinion

Belarusian spring: finding hope in dark times

These are dark times in Belarus, with the government tightening the screws like never before. They are preparing for spring just as much as the opponents of the regime are.

Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog

Russia lost its seat on the board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time in the organisation's history — while Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were elected to the executive council.

Opinion

'Loss and Damage' reparations still hang in balance at COP28

There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.

Latest News

  1. EU offers Turkey upgrade, as Sweden nears Nato entry
  2. Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog
  3. Finland's closure of Russia border likely violates asylum law
  4. The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand
  5. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  6. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  7. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza
  8. People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  2. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  4. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  5. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us