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The EU and Russia should help Belarus together, says CDU General Secretary Ziemiak

2020-08-24T19:28:51.798Z


Together, the EU and Russia could pave the way to a democratic transition in Belarus - and thus create new trust among each other.


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Opposition demonstration in Minsk, Belarus, on August 23, 2020

Photo: Vasily Fedosenko / REUTERS

The people of Belarus stood up. Peaceful, courageous, brave. With flowers in hand, they face the man who has stolen self-determination from his own people through free elections. The courage of the people who, despite politically motivated arrests, despite brutal state violence, despite water cannons, prison buses and police cars, despite tear gas, batons and stun grenades, stand up to dictator Lukashenko is admirable and inspiring. They oppose the massive number of special police with clubs and free tickets to sadistic orgies of violence with seemingly endless, peaceful human chains. Last Sunday's estimates put up to half a million demonstrators - in Minsk alone!

We are witnessing a historic opportunity for which hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are fighting peacefully. An opportunity that was also seized in 1989 by the people in East Germany, in Poland, where I was born, and in all of Central and Eastern Europe. The peaceful revolution then showed that the people's urge for freedom and justice can overcome the state machine of lies, walls, barbed wire and shooting orders. Precisely because we share this historical experience and precisely because we know how difficult this path is, we must now stand on the side of the people in Belarus who are protesting peacefully.

To the author

Paul Ziemiak  is CDU General Secretary. He was born in 1985 in Stettin, Poland, and moved to Iserlohn in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1988, where he has been involved in the CDU since the late 1990s. From 2014 to 2019 he was chairman of the Junge Union, he has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017, and Ziemiak has been CDU general secretary since December 2018.

Svetlana Tichanovskaya is a symbol of the courage of these people. It stands for the courage of the citizens who take to the streets for their freedom. As a sign of solidarity, it was important for me to meet her in Vilnius and talk to her about what the people of Belarus want to achieve for their country in a self-determined way. When people accept the endangerment of the integrity of their own families, when a woman stands up for the freedom not only of her family but of all the people in the country despite the imprisonment of her husband, then that is a commitment that many of us hardly do ourselves able to imagine. We are already rightly calling her the "heroine of Minsk".

While we need strong signs, gestures of solidarity are not enough. The decision of the European Council not to recognize Lukashenko's fake re-election is therefore correct and important. Election fraudsters are not election winners. The elections in Belarus were neither free nor fair.

Targeted sanctions against Lukashenko, his environment and all those who are complicit in election fraud and violence.

But Alexander Lukashenko is more than an election faker - he is a brutal dictator. The consistent response to this must be targeted sanctions against him, his environment and all those who are complicit in the election fraud and wave of violence. This includes leading the law enforcement agencies involved in the brutal repression against independent media, journalists, activists and peaceful demonstrators. But this must also apply to individual police officers. In a situation in which they have been promised impunity and they go into action with the anonymous protection of their helmets and uniforms, everyone is responsible for their own actions and cannot hide behind some kind of "emergency of orders". Many have used this "freedom" for orgies of violence. For this they have to be held accountable - according to Belarusian law, but also internationally if necessary.

The sanctions should include asset and bank account freezes and entry bans into the EU. If Lukashenko is able to continue to use force to maintain his power, we must also think about sectoral economic sanctions against industries that are closely linked to the regime. Restrictive measures should also be imposed on members of the Central Election Commission and the regional and local election commissions who were involved in the massive falsification of the election results.

It would be best, however, if Lukashenko would allow his people a peaceful transition and withdraw peacefully. Perhaps one day people would even forgive him for his crimes. The central government, but also local administrations and authorities must enter into a dialogue with the striking and protesting people and recognize the coordination council initiated by Svetlana Tichanovskaya and talk to each other about the way to new elections. Fundamental rights, such as the right to assembly or freedom of expression, must be guaranteed on a sustained basis across the country. In particular, however, the right to freedom of information must also be preserved. Shutting down the internet, arresting journalists or putting massive pressure on the free media are absolutely unacceptable. The freedom of the press must apply consistently.

more on the subject

Icon: Spiegel PlusIcon: Spiegel PlusMass protests against dictator Lukashenko: Freedom and love on the streets of Minsk Christian Esch reports from Minsk

Above all, it is important that the violence is stopped immediately. Ministers, high-ranking government officials, security forces and police officers are no longer allowed to carry out criminal orders against their own people and must stand on the side of the people they have sworn to defend. The bloodshed in the streets, prison yards and torture rooms of the regime must stop.

The Lukashenko regime must immediately release those politically detained and arbitrarily arrested during the demonstrations. It must be clarified and investigated what happened to the numerous missing people.

The Belarusians don't want a revolution or a geopolitical change. They just want them to enjoy the law and freedom guaranteed by their own constitution. Under the real conditions of today's Belarus, this means: a democratic and a peaceful change. They want to be free and self-determined about the future of their country.

As neighbors on both sides with Belarus, Russia and the EU could agree on a common path.

The basis for such change is dialogue. It is important to support this course taken by the opposition and to help pave the way for free elections according to international standards. For example, the OSCE, which includes many Western countries as well as Belarus and Russia, could moderate this process. The attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince Lukashenko of the need for OSCE moderation shows that Russia and the EU, as mutual neighbors with Belarus, could agree on a common path.

The sovereignty of the Belarusian people must clearly come first. This means that the international community can support this path, but is not allowed to make decisions over the heads of the Belarusians, nor to interfere in their internal affairs. It is not about a path that leads the country unilaterally to the west or towards Russia. Minsk is not Kiev. The EU and Russia should constructively support the change in dialogue with Belarus and with each other and be part of a solution together.

If this succeeds, the peace in and for Belarus would be a lasting, genuine and common peace that could radiate to the entire region. Such a "Belarusian solution" could create inspiration and trust and become the starting point for opening a new chapter in the relations between the West and Russia.

Belarus has been actively trying to moderate between East and West since 2014. A popular self-image of Minsk foreign policy is that of the "donor of regional security". Is there a chance ahead of us to help this goal achieve an epoch-making breakthrough - in a completely different way than previously thought? In any case, we should do everything we can to try together.

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-08-24

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