mr president commissioner honourable members i think it is extremely valuable that we have such strong support among all the european institutions for the approach towards belarus
it is indeed a very difficult partner but it is our neighbour a country with which we share borders
some countries here have close and historic relations with the people there so we must do our utmost to support the development towards democracy human rights the rule of law and market economy
we are concerned about certain backlashes lately for instance the young student who was expelled
the swedish presidency has reacted very firmly in minsk and also issued lots of statements it is of course something that we deplore and it should not happen
we have had lots of contact with civil society during this year
there was a conference just a few weeks ago in brussels with civil society
i personally met opposition representatives in stockholm a few weeks ago and there are continuous efforts to liaise with civil society and the opposition
they are weak but they are there and they need our support and that support will continue
i think mr godmanis idea on the conference theme is a very interesting one
it certainly merits being explored to see if we can move forward
this dual approach towards belarus the stick and carrot as i think mr tannock called it is hopefully the one that will succeed
it shows that we are truly committed we stuck out our hands
we can show mr lukashenko and the belarus regime that if you move towards democracy if you move towards respecting international values there is another way for you
there is a way towards european integration there is a way towards engagement with the european union towards visa facilitation and deepening of the eastern partnership
now it is up to them to respond
we have given them our hand and with the full support of all the european institutions please minsk take it because you and the belarus people have a lot to win
