News on the topic: EU-Belarus
20.12.2013 Catherine Ashton calls on Belarus to join global moratorium on the death penalty
The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today: "The High Representative regrets the death sentence recently handed down to an individual by the Minsk Regional Court. She hopes that his right to appeal will be fully exercised."
25.11.2013 Lithuanian Seimas to hold hearings on Belarus
The Lithuanian parliament is to have hearings on Belarus on November 27 ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.
19.11.2013 Angela Merkel demands release of Belarusian political prisoners
Political prisoners in Belarus should obtain the possibility to speak and act freely. Angela Merkel spoke of that to Bundestag members, Radio Svaboda reports.
05.11.2013 Heads of the Embassies of EU countries visit Kurapaty and Trastsianets
On 5 November the heads of the Embassies of the European Union and the Charge d' Affaires of the United States of America to the Republic of Belarus visited Kurapaty and Trastsianets, mass graves of victims of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century.
05.11.2013 EU Heads of Missions Visit Kurapaty and Trastsyanets
It has become a tradition for the diplomats to gather at the sites on or around Dzyady, Remembrance of Ancestors Day, to honour the memory of the victims.
30.10.2013 EU publishes updated blacklist of Belarusian individuals, entities
The Council of the European Union has published the names of Belarusian citizens and economic entities whose names were included in the EU's blacklist and removed from it on October 29, BelaPAN said.
29.10.2013 EU to extend sanctions against Lukashenka regim
The statement was made by head of the EU delegation to Belarus Maira Mora.
21.10.2013 NGOs urge EU to make its restrictive measures against Belarus effective
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, together with a group of human rights NGOs from several European countries, sent a letter this week to the ministers of foreign affairs of EU member states urging the EU to extend and expand its targeted economic sanctions against Belarusian companies providing support to the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenka by exporting to and through the EU.
11.10.2013 Sakharov Prize awarded to Pakistani girl injured by Taliban militants
Malala Yusufzai, a 16-year-old Pakistani human rights activist, wounded by Taliban militants, has been awarded Sakharov Prize for 2013.
08.10.2013 PACE: the release of political prisoners and a moratorium on the death penalty are the obligatory per-requisites for the beginning of a dialogue with Minsk
The release of political prisoners and the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty in Belarus are the obligatory conditions for the dialogue of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) with the Belarusian authorities. This is stated in the statement of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, published on 3 October on the site of the Assembly.
01.10.2013 Belarusian political prisoners on the short list of Sakharov prize
30 September saw the announcement of the short list of candidates for Andrey Sakharov Prize "For the freedom of thought". Among the contenders for the award the Foreign Affairs Committee of European Parliament called Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialiatski, Eduard Lobau and Mikalai Statkevich, as well as the US national Edward Snovden and the Pakistani human rights activist, schoolgirl Malala Yusufzai.
25.09.2013 EEAS official: Release and rehabilitation of political prisoners remain necessary condition for normalization of Belarus-EU relations
Minsk, 24 September. The release and rehabilitation of political prisoners remain a necessary and indispensable condition for the normalization of relations between Belarus and the European Union, Gunnar Wiegand, the European External Action Service (EEAS)’s director for Russia, the Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation and the OSCE, told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday, following his meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna.
17.09.2013 Lithuania’s MFA: Release of political prisoners is paramount
Lithuania hopes for improvement of EU-Belarus relations.
16.09.2013 Human Rights Defenders Discuss Violations of Human Rights in Belarus with Dutch Officials
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) invited a delegation of Belarusian and Russian human rights defenders to raise issues regarding the systematic violation of human rights in Belarus with Dutch officials.
13.09.2013 European Parliament approves report of Justas Paleckis on situation in Belarus
MEPs called on the official Minsk to respect human rights and move towards democratic reforms to end the country's self-imposed isolation from Europe.
