Zapowiadana na bieżącą sesję Parlamentu Europejskiego rezolucja w sprawie łamania praw polskiej mniejszości narodowej na Białorusi została przeniesiona na późniejszy termin. Ostatecznie w dniu jutrzejszym odbędzie się jedynie debata w tej sprawie, a na odpowiednią rezolucję PE należy będzie poczekać jeszcze dwa tygodnie.

O zajęcie oficjalnego stanowiska PE na temat sytuacji na Białorusi w bieżącej sesji PE zabiegali posłowie z Grupy Europejskich Konserwatystów i Reformatorów. Niestety, z powodu braku poparcia ze strony Europejskiej Partii Ludowej i przy zdecydowanym sprzeciwie europejskiej lewicy rezolucja została przesunięta na drugi tydzień marca.

„Przeniesienie tej rezolucji na sesję marcową znacznie osłabi jej wymowę – żelazo należy kuć póki jest gorące. Po miesiącu temat prześladowań Polaków na Białorusi zniknie z mediów i europejska opinia publiczna o tym zapomni. Jest to także afront ze strony UE w stosunku do Aleksandra Milinkiewicza i Andżeliki Borys, którzy specjalnie na tę okazję przyjechali do Brukseli. Tłumaczenie jakoby winę za ten stan rzeczy ponosili komuniści i socjaliści mija się z prawdą, ponieważ te dwie grupy polityczne nie mają większości w PE. Decydujący głos należał tutaj do Europejskiej Partii Ludowej, w której zasiadają posłowie PO i PSL. W kuluarowych rozmowach dowiedziałem się, że EPL podzieliła się w tej kwestii i dominujący w tej frakcji niemieccy posłowie storpedowali inicjatywę rezolucji w sprawie Białorusi. Po raz kolejny okazało się, że o polityce zagranicznej grupy parlamentarnej, do której należą PO i PSL, decyduje niemiecki europoseł – koordynator Grupy EPL ds. zagranicznych – Elmar Brok” – mówił poseł PiS do PE Tomasz Poręba.

Grupa EKR, jako jedyna frakcja w PE, złożyła projekt rezolucji na temat sytuacji na Białorusi, którego tekst prezentujemy poniżej.

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission and Council

pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure

tabled by Charles TANNOCK, Michał KAMIŃSKI, Ryszard LEGUTKO, Tomasz PORĘBA, Ryszard CZARNECKI, Paweł KOWAL, Konrad SZYMAŃSKI, Adam BIELAN, Marek MIGALSKI, Mirosław PIOTROWSKI

on behalf of the ECR Group

on Belarus

European Parliament resolution on Belarus

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Belarus, in particular that of 2 April 2009 on bi-annual evaluation of the EU-Belarus dialogue,

– having regard to the Commission Communication of 3 December 2008 concerning the Eastern Partnership Initiative (COM(2008)0823),

– having regard to the Declaration on the Eastern Partnership issued by the European Council at its meeting of 19-20 March 2009 and to the Joint Declaration issued at the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit of 7 May 2009,

– having regard to the statement on the Eastern Partnership issued by the European Council at its meeting of 10-11 December 2009,

– having regard to Rule 142 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the application of the travel restrictions imposed on certain officials of the Belarus government, in accordance with the terms set out in Council Common Position 2009/314/CFSP, has been suspended until October 2010;

B. whereas the Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB) led by Andzelika Borys is not officially recognized by the Belarusian authorities, who actively support the rival organization by the same name led by Stanisław Siemiaszko;

C. whereas on the 8th of February 2010 the Polish House in Ivyanets, ran by the UPB, has been forcedly taken over by Belarusian police and handed over to Mr. Siemiaszko’s organization; whereas on the 10th of February, during the protest in defence of the Polish House in Ivyanets, around 40 UPB activists have been detained and sentenced to prison and fines;

D. whereas on 17th of February 2010, after a trial which was held with gross violation of all recognised due process, the Belarusian court in Valozhyn district upheld the police action and confirmed the handing over of the Polish House in Ivyanets to the organization led by Mr. Siemiaszko; whereas many UPB members who attempted to arrive at the court were detained on their way or were not admitted into the court room during the sitting;

E. Whereas the Court in Grodno has sentenced „Polonica”, a firm which organizes Polish language courses for more than 400 children in Belarus, to pay a fine of 25 000 USD; whereas this decision, which in practice will lead to the liquidation of the firm chaired by Andzelika Borys, was the result of a flawed and unjust trial;

F. whereas the actions of the Belarusian authorities directed at changing the administration of the UPB and confiscation of its property contradicts the Declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit signed by Belarus in Prague on May 7, 2009;

G. whereas despite repeated urgent requests by the Polish government, High Representative / Vice President Catherine Ashton issued her statement only one week after the incident;

H. whereas ethnic Poles make up an estimated 400,000 of Belarus’ total population of 10 million people;

I. whereas Belarusian authorities continue to crackdown on the opposition, disbanding peaceful rallies and assaulting protesters;

J. whereas the Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Syarhei Martynau, has declared that 'Belarus has a positive view on participation in the Eastern Partnership Initiative’, adding that Belarus intends to participate in that initiative;

K. whereas the Belarusian delegation to the Eastern Partnership Parliamentary Assembly will consist of 10 observers from the political opposition and civil society;

L. whereas, the membership of the Parliament of Belarus in Euronest is suspended due to the non-recognition of the Parliament of Belarus by the European Parliament and the OSCE as well as the Council of Europe;

M. whereas, as soon as elections to the parliament of Belarus are free, fair, democratic and recognised as legitimate by the European Parliament, the Members of the Belarusian Parliament will be invited to participate in the activities of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly as members thereof;

N. whereas on the 1st of February Alexandr Lukashenko signed a decree imposing censorship of the Internet by setting up an „Analysis Centre” that may monitor and demand service providers to block access within 24 hours to any website it indicates, thus placing Belarus in line with countries such as China, North Korea and Iran;

O. whereas, after two years of broadcasting, TV Belsat is the main independent source of information for Belarusians and the only television broadcaster that transmits a full range of programmes in the Belarusian language and is attracting an increasingly larger number of regular viewers in Belarus,

1. strongly condemns the actions of the Belarusian authorities aimed against representatives of the organisation of the Polish national minority and reiterates its call upon Belarus to respect human rights and the rights of all of its citizens;

2. strongly condemns politically-motivated trials and the apparent dependence of the judiciary on the Belarusian exeutive; in this regard calls on the courts of appeal to annul the decision of handing over the Polish House in Ivyanets to Mr. Siemiaszko’s organization and to punish „Polonica” with a 25 000 USD fine;

3. is of the opinion that the level of EU cooperation with the Belarusian authorities should directly depend on the level of respect for human rights in Belarus;

4. calls on the Council to consider reinstituting the application of travel restrictions imposed on certain officials of the Belarus government and to consider enacting further sanctions aimed at the Belarusian authorities that would not affect the general population;

5. voices its concern about the weak and belated statement by the HR/VP on the repressions against the Polish national minority and calls on Catherine Ashton to increase her involvement in monitoring developments in Belarus;

6. strongly condemns the decision by the Belarusian authorities to limit access to the Internet;

7. reiterates its call on the Belarusian authorities to guarantee freedom of media, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of religion for churches other than the Belarusian Orthodox Church and other political rights and freedoms;

8. reiterates its call on the Council and the Commission to grant financial support to TV Belsat and to urge the Belarusian Government to officially register Belsat in Belarus;

9. believes that free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy and until such elections are held in Belarus, the Belarusian parliament should not be considered as legitimate by the European Union; reiterates its call on the Belarusian authorities to carry out a thorough reform of the electoral legislation in line with OSCE/ODIHR recommendations in order to ensure free and fair transparent elections in the future; calls on the HR/VP not to involve herself in any cooperation with members of Belarusian parliament until such elections take place and to strengthen her relations with the opposition and civil society in the country;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the MemberStates, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Government of Belarus.