Impunity for Lukashenko would be a disaster for the future of democracy

“Democracies die in silence. If we want to preserve the freedom that we take for granted today, we should stop merely condemning authoritarianism, but rather take action to concretely support those who pay the highest price to defend democracy”, said EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber MEP and Rasa Juknevičienė MEP ahead of today’s Democracy Summit organised by US President Joe Biden.

“History and present times bear witness that democracies ensure peace, while dictatorships and autocracies, wars and tensions. We therefore welcome the Summit of Democracies. We believe that the European continent will be free from aggressive dictatorships sooner or later. That is why we need solidarity of democracies and greater determination”, stressed Juknevičienė, who is the EPP Group Vice-Chair for Foreign Affairs.

According to Juknevičienė, the EU should first and foremost take the lead in order to bring Alexander Lukashenko and his collaborators to the International Court of Justice for the crimes committed in Belarus and outside its borders.

“Impunity for Lukashenko would be a disaster for the future of democracy. We have all heard the message which the President-elect of Belarus Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya conveyed to the European Parliament. The democrats have no time to lose. The EPP Group hopes that the upcoming EU Summit will trigger concrete action from the EU Member States to bring the Belarusian perpetrators to justice, notably for the offences under the Convention against Torture or under the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. An EU task force of lawyers can assist the EU Member States in such action”, stressed Juknevičienė.

Manfred Weber recalled that democracy has also been at stake within the EU. “Dictators and autocrats around the world fear democracy because it means freedom for their people. Freedom is a direct threat to their power, in Belarus just as in Russia. It is our most valuable asset inside Europe, but also a standard for freedom around the world.” He insisted on the role which the Conference on the Future of Europe may have in strengthening democracy within the EU. “Building a good future for Europe means building a more democratic European Union”, Weber concluded.