Written declaration No. 464 | Doc. 12496 | 25 January 2011

Call for sanctions against Belarus to be implemented by all member states of the Council of Europe

Signatories: Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Doris FIALA, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Paul FLYNN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Stanislav FOŘT, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Mr Serhiy HOLOVATY, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Jim HOOD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Joachim HÖRSTER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Anette HÜBINGER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Mats JOHANSSON, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr Albrecht KONEČNÝ, Austria, SOC ; Mr Václav KUBATA, Czech Republic, EPP/CD ; Mr Markku LAUKKANEN, Finland, ALDE ; Ms Darja LAVTIŽAR-BEBLER, Slovenia, SOC ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Geir POLLESTAD, Norway, ALDE ; Ms Zaruhi POSTANJYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Kimmo SASI, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Fiorenzo STOLFI, San Marino, SOC

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The undersigned condemn the fraud elections, the arrests following the fraud elections and all other signs of lack of respect for human rights by the Belarusian authorities. They call on all member states of the Council of Europe:

• to condemn the violence after the elections and also to label the elections as fraud, not to recognise the results and ask for new elections in Belarus ;
• to review the bilateral relationships with the Belarusian authorities, including installing a list of Belarusian people who are responsible for the elections and the lack of respect for human rights and who will not be allowed to enter the member states;
• to install smart economic sanctions to the Belarusian regime and the Belarusian country as long as it does not respect human rights and to use the 12 conditions checklist - on which the European Commission bases its relation with Belarus, as stated in the document “What the European Union could bring to Belarus”, November 2006 - and new elections as the basis to be fulfilled by Belarus before sanctions can be ended;
• to increase the level of sanctions on a regular basis if the Belarusian regime does not apply to all 12 conditions and holds new elections;
• to co-ordinate the sanctions taken in order for them to be most effective and least damaging to the citizens of Belarus.