mr president let me on behalf of the group of socialist and democrats express our concerns about the human rights situation in belarus and particularly with regard to the recent developments with the union of poles
we would like also to express our solidarity with all the citizens of belarus who are not able to enjoy their basic civil and human rights
this is in a european country in the twenty-first century
i think this is an issue which is not acceptable and we can all agree on that
this is the starting point
the main questions we have to pose now are first where we want to bring belarus and second how we can do it
on the first question i think we can all agree we want to see belarus democratic we want to see belarusian authorities democratically elected parliament president governments and local representatives we want to see these authorities creating a free and creative atmosphere in belarus and of course we want to see the country moving closer to the eu
the second question is how we can achieve this
the european union has changed its policy towards belarus from isolation to engagement and it seems that this policy is producing some results
of course it is not enough it is not being done quickly enough and the developments we see as in the last two weeks show that we have to be much more committed
what i have discovered as chair of the euronest delegation and chair of the delegation that is going to belarus tomorrow to see the situation on the ground is that we lack a joint strategy between the three main institutions council commission and parliament
we need such a strategy in order to reinforce each other's efforts and we really need a political dialogue we need a roadmap for belarus which is very concrete not just general recommendations but an action plan a roadmap which belarus should adhere to
this is the way to continue and it is not enough to do it only under the economic cooperation and the eastern partnership
