Activities of Anna FOTYGA related to 2020/2081(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the VPC/HR on relations with Belarus (debate)
Amendments (31)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to a joint statement on Belarus of EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and ECR groups in the European Parliament of 17 August 2020,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas despite the fundamental restrictions on basic freedoms and human rights that remain in Belarus, the EU policy of critical engagement with Belarus has produced some results in the form of signed agreements and increased cooperation; whereas future relations between the EU and Belarus will be defined in the Partnership Priorities to be agreed by both sideEU and new legitimate, democratically elected authorities in Belarus;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the people of Belarus share common European heritage and culture, while directly neighbouring three EU Member States; whereas situation in Belarus may have direct impact on the EU;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the OSCE ODIHR International Election Observation Mission noted an overallnone of either the parliamentary or presidential elections held in Belarus from 1994 to date have been free and fair, but despite these harsh undemocratic conditions the people of Belarus clearly voted for a change, after more than two decades of oppression; whereas recent presidential elections were neither free nor fair and even more than the previous ones were marred with disregard for the fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression during the 2019 parliamentary elections, whichand took place after a limited amount of campaigning and within an extremely restrictive environment that did not provide for a meaningful or competitive political contest overall;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the 2020 presidential elections have thus far followed the same pattern as the parliamentary electionssimilar pattern as previous elections; whereas after publication of falsified results, Belarusian people immediately organised peaceful protests, which were suppressed by brutal force, which resulted in thousands of protestors being arrested, tortured, wounded, and some even killed; whereas the United Nations human rights investigators alarmed on 01/09 that they had received reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment of anti-government protesters by police in Belarus and urged the authorities to stop any such abuse;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas human rights and democracy in Belarus have been deliberately and brutally restricted by the Belarusian authorities over the past decades, while representatives of the opposition, civil society and media in the country have been regularly arrested or otherwise persecuted;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the Belarusian regime seeks to intimidate and to disperse the Coordination Council of Belarus by targeting its members and launching a criminal case against them;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
Ed. whereas Belsat TV channel, which is officially registered in Poland, so far has not been registered in Belarus, while its activities are under constant pressure and attacks, including brutal detentions of its journalists and fines imposed to its contributors amounting to USD 101,791 as of 18 June 2020;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas 26 years in power or Lukashenka had been marked by policies of undermining sovereignty and independence of the country and weakening of Belarusian identity, heritage and culture;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) acknowledge territorial integrity of Belarus and support the sovereignty of Belarus against pressure from the Russian Federation for deeper integration and remind Belarus that the European Union is open to further development of relations with the country both bilaterally and within the Eastern Partnership framework if Belarus meets conditions linked to democracy, the rule of law, international law, human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) pay close attention to the presidential election campaign and insist that a lack of progress in conducting elections according to international standards and further crackdowns against the opposition will have direct adverse effects on relations wicall for holding new and transparent Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Belarus that would meet the democratic standards and call on the EU, OSCE, CoE to engage in dialogue with the Belarusian civil society with a view to launch a new electoral process, under the supervision of a new Electoral Commission, a body that can be trusted by all the parties including international observers, under the the EUight international scrutiny;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) deny recognition of the results of the elections held in Belarus on 9 August 2020 and Alexander Lukashenko as a legitimate leader President of Belarus; accordingly, call on him to respect the decision of the people of Belarus and peacefully step down;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
(eb) applaud the Belarusian people for their courage and determination and to strongly support their desire for democratic change and freedom and basing their country’s future on principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights, so as to ensure freedom, independence, sovereignty and prosperity of the Republic of Belarus;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e d (new)
(ed) deplore persecution of the members of the opposition Coordination Council and call the authorities to enter into the dialogue with the protestors in order to end the violence and repressions and prepare a new elections;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(fa) condemn efforts of the Belarusian regime to deny entrance to the country for Belarusians critical towards it, as well as independent journalists, human rights workers, as well as representatives of international community, including Members of the European Parliament;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
(gb) uphold the decision of EU’s foreign affairs ministers and the European Council to blacklist those responsible for violence and fake presidential elections and impose individual sanctions against Belarusian officials who are liable for or have contributed to the falsification of the results of the presidential elections in Belarus and are responsible or have contributed to violations of civil and human rights; this list should be constantly updated and extended according to the level of crimes committed by Lukashenko regime;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g c (new)
(gc) note that China's president was the first to congratulate Lukashenka after the elections; to express concerns over increasing Chinese investments in strategic infrastructure and warn about the effect of dependency it might create for Belarus;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
(i) condemn the ongoing intimidation and persecution of opposition figures, including presidential hopefuls, civil society activists and independent journalists; strongly condemn the suppression of internet and media, road blockades, and intimidation of journalists in order to stop the flow of information about the situation in the country as well as denial of access to Belarus for international media, members of parliament or government of democratic community;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) commend actions taken by workers of numerous factories and institutions throughout the country that joined the protests in various ways, including strikes and provide necessary support for those of them who were punished by the regime for exercising their democratic rights;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i b (new)
(ib) welcome numerous acts of solidarity with the people of Belarus, including fundraising, charity and humanitarian assistance; in this regard condemn stopping of humanitarian aid transport organised by "NSZZ Solidarnosc";
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
(ja) approve the European universal human rights sanctions (European Magnitsky Act) as a regime providing, at the EU level, for restrictive measures, including entry bans and freezing of funds, against individuals liable for violations of human rights and freedoms and responsible for other crimes;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)
Amendment 361 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
(oa) offer the alternative of strengthened and much closer cooperation with Belarus in case democratic changes, including new elections, become reality;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new)
(ob) work together with the European Commission in order to develop a comprehensive programme for Belarus after the new presidential elections are held, which would allow Belarus to transition towards a free market economy and an open democratic state;
Amendment 382 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point r a (new)
(ra) provide active and direct support to Belarusian non-governmental organisations and communities, grant all necessary assistance to Belarusian citizens and human right defenders, and limit any financial or other support to the state institutions of Belarus;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point r b (new)
(rb) strengthen the support programs for civil society, NGOs, journalists, European scholarship program for Belarusians, loans for specific reform programs, unlocking partnership priorities and full cooperation within the Eastern Partnership;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point r c (new)
(rc) commend the actions of the journalists and employees of public media outlets, who despite oppression and threats against them remained true to the journalist ethos and continued to support the democratic opposition and were subsequently fired; recognise the work of independent media, including Charter 97, Bielsat, Radio Svoboda and others; to use European Endowment for Democracy and other instruments in order to support these outlets and journalists who are subject to repression by the regime;
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point r d (new)
(rd) urge Russian Federation not to engage into any actions that would threaten sovereignty and territorial integrity of Belarus and notice the valued solidarity expressed by Russian pro- democratic civil society with Belarusian activists; to warn against any attempts to militarize the situation and provoke tensions with the neighbouring countries;