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“He is well aware that the European Union has rejected the falsified results of the presidential elections,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs said in a speech to MEPs in Brussels on Tuesday.
“We have made it clear that (Aliaksandr) Lukashenko has no democratic legitimacy … We do not recognize him as the legitimate president of Belarus,” Borrell continued.
According to him, it is no longer possible to operate with this mode as usual. He recalled that the EU had sanctioned 40 Belarusian officials for electoral fraud and violence against citizens. However, the situation in Minsk has continued to deteriorate since then and there appears to be no prospect of dialogue, Borrell noted.
The EU Foreign Affairs Council on October 12 “gave the green light to discuss the next package of sanctions, and this time they will apply to Aliaksandr Lukashenko himself. Technical work started immediately after the Council and will be completed shortly. No member state has opposed this, “said the EU’s head of diplomacy.
According to Mr Borrell, the principles of EU-Belarus relations should be reviewed, but the Community stands in solidarity with Belarusian civil society. He said that a global economic aid package was being prepared, which the European institutions were ready to provide to a “new democratic Belarus”.
He agreed with the European Parliament’s recommendations on a new EU-Belarus relationship, which stated that “a credible peaceful solution can only be achieved through a national dialogue involving the Coordination Council.”
The EU will request a mediation mission from the OSCE to allow that dialogue to take place. At the same time, Mr Borrell acknowledged that the Belarusian authorities were reluctant to enter into dialogue and that all the EU’s efforts had not yet borne fruit.
He assured that the EU will continue to support the people of Belarus in the struggle for their democratic rights, for the right to elect a president in free elections and under the auspices of the OSCE.
The European Union stands ready to support Belarusians, civil society and the independent media “by all available means, economic and political,” stressed the Head of Community Diplomacy.
“We will try to isolate the Lukashenko government by providing financial assistance to citizens and preventing that money from falling into the government’s pocket,” Borrell promised, reaffirming Brussels’ view that the only way out was to hold new free and fair presidential elections.
He also assured that the EU does not intend to turn the situation in Belarus into a geopolitical problem and tell Belarusians to choose one side or the other.
“Citizens want a political regime that respects human rights. They want a democratic system that respects the will of the people, ”Borrell explained.
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