European Parliament Called For Tougher Sanctions Against Lukashenko's Regime

• 22.10.2025, 15:29

MEPs call for supporting independent media and pushing for the release of political prisoners.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Belarus by a majority vote, reports a correspondent of Charter97.org.

In the text of the resolution, adopted on October 22 at the plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs drew attention to the critical and deteriorating human rights situation five years after the rigged 2020 presidential election, highlighting the tragic deaths of political prisoners in custody.

European MPs warned "against Lukashenko's use of political prisoners as a tool to extract concessions from the West" and recalled that "every time prisoners were released, others were subsequently captured."

The European Parliament expressed "serious concern about the lifting of US sanctions imposed on the Belarusian airline Belavia following the hijacking of a Ryanair flight in 2021, noting that Belavia is complicit in using migration as a tool."

Parliamentarians urge the EU and partners to strengthen sanctions against individuals and organizations responsible for "undermining democracy and the rule of law, repression, human rights violations and crimes against humanity, as well as Belarus' participation in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."

The lawmakers "reiterate their calls for EU companies and Western countries to cease their activities in Belarus."

The European Parliament calls for closing sanctions loopholes and "impose targeted sanctions against intermediaries and persons facilitating trade in Belarusian fertilizers who knowingly circumvent sanctions, as well as against any person or entity renting production facilities, rebranding, repackaging or falsifying the origin of Belarusian fertilizers, providing finance or insurance Independent media outlets, including Belsat TV, Charter'97, Nexta, Radio Racyja, Radio Liberty and Nasha Niva, remain vital channels, providing essential information and platforms for the suppressed democratic voices of Belarus," the resolution reads.