Activities of Isabel SANTOS related to 2023/2041(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Relations with Belarus (debate)
Amendments (34)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 25 June 1993,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
– having regard the Report on the serious threat to the OSCE human dimension in Belarus since 5 November 2020,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 c (new)
Citation 2 c (new)
– having regard the Human Rights Watch World Report 2022 on Belarus,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas almost three years after the so-called elections on 9 August 2020, the Belarusian authorities are continuing their repression against the Belarusian people; whereas more than 50 000 Belarusians have been illegally arrested and tortured, more than 1 500 persons remain imprisoned on political grounds, many others live under the continuous pressure of intimidation, threats and possible arrest and fabricated charges pressed against them and around 300 000 have left the country for fear of a similar fate;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Lukashenka regime is dangerously undermining the sovereignty of Belarus by deepening Belarus’ integration into the Union State with Russia; whereas the regime continues its policy of russification of Belarus and suppression of Belarus language and national identity;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Lukashenka regime is dangerously undermining the sovereignty of Belarus by deepening Belarus’ integration into the Union State with Russia, risking (partial) de facto governance from Moscow;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the Lukashenka regime continues to marginalise national and religious minorities, as well as to prosecute political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations, and lawyers representing political prisoners;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the Belarus Orthodox church in many cases serves the interests of the regime - it has removed senior bishops and lower clergy seen as disloyal to the regime, and given the regime lists of priests who have supported protests against the falsified presidential elections of 2020; whereas the leadership of the Belarusian Orthodox Church supports Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the Belarusian authorities actively support and have become acfully complicesit in Russia’s unjustified war of aggression and its war crimes against Ukraine;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the Lukashenka regime poses a direct threat to the EU and its citizens by continuing to instrumentalise migration' security, accepting the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on its territory and refusing to implement nuclear safety requirements at the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Astravyets;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Belarusian democratic forces led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya have a well-established and internationally recognised structure, including the recent formation of the United Transitional Cabinet and the opening of the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Brussels and whereas both the United Transitional Cabinet, members in the diaspora of various democratic opposition parties and other Belarusians play a vital role in the continued active support to political prisoners, their families and activists still in Belarus;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Belarusian democratic forces led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya have a well-established and internationally recognised structure, including the Coordination Council, the recent formation of the United Transitional Cabinet and the opening of the Mission of Democratic Belarus in Brussels;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the other leaders of democratic political parties have declared their European aspirations for the new Belarus;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. UrgesDemands from the Belarusian regime to end this spiral of violence, torture and repression against dissenting voices and perceived critics, to release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners, their family members and all persons arbitrarily detained, and to engage in a genuine dialoguethe negotiations with representatives of the democratic forces and civil society in order to find a way out of the current political crisis through the organisation of free and fair elections to be organised under international observation led by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Expresses deep concern over the alleged use of the forced labour of inmates in Belarusian penal colonies in particular by suppliers to major EU-based companies; calls on all EU-based companies to terminate relations with any Belarusian suppliers which use forced labour in their supply chains as far as not yet falling under restrictive measures, and calls on the Council to impose sanctions on any Belarusian companies which use forced labour in their supply chains;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Demands that the Lukashenka regime provides a proper medical care to all political prisoners and provides access to them for the international medical experts; demands an independent investigation into the deaths of political prisoners under custody by the regime;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Denounces politically motivated ‘show trials’ and trumped up charges aimed at instilling fear in representatives and supporters of the democratic forces, civil society, independent media, free trade unions and human rights defenders, and in particular the recent sentencing to long prison terms of Nobel Peace Prize and Sakharov Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Zmitser Salauyou, Uladzimir Labkovich, Raman Pratasevich, Henadz Fiadynich, Vasil Berasneu and Vatslau Areshka, and Mikalai Statkevich, as well as the sentencing in absentia of leading figures of the democratic forces such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Pavel Latushka, Maryia Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, Siarhei Dyleuski, Valery Tsapkala, Stsiapan Putsila and Yan Rudzik on spurious charges of ‘conspiracy to seize power’ or ‘forming extremist organisations’; encourages the Council and the Commission to identify novel avenues to work towards the release of all political prisoners;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Denounces politically motivated ‘show trials’ aimed at instilling fear in representatives and supporters of the democratic forces, civil society, independent media, free trade unions and human rights defenders, and in particular the recent sentencing to long prison terms of Nobel Peace Prize and Sakharov Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Zmitser Salauyou, Uladzimir Labkovich, Raman Pratasevich, Henadz Fiadynich, Vasil Berasneu and Vatslau Areshka, Maryna Zolatava, Ludmila Chekina and Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk as well as the sentencing in absentia of leading figures of the democratic forces such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Pavel Latushka, Maryia Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, Siarhei Dyleuski, Valery Tsapkala, Stsiapan Putsila and Yan Rudzik on spurious charges of ‘conspiracy to seize power’ or ‘forming extremist organisations’;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Denounces politically motivated ‘show trials’ aimed at instilling fear in representatives and supporters of the democratic forces, civil society, independent media, free trade unions and human rights defenders, and in particular the recent sentencing to long prison terms of Nobel Peace Prize and Sakharov Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Zmitser Salauyou, Uladzimir Labkovich, Raman Pratasevich, Henadz Fiadynich, Vasil Berasneu and Vatslau Areshka, as well as the sentencing in absentia of leading figures of the democratic forces such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Pavel Latushka, Maryia Maroz, Volha Kavalkova, Siarhei Dyleuski, Valery Tsapkala, Stsiapan Putsila and Yan Rudzik on spurious charges of ‘conspiracy to seize power’ or ‘forming extremist organisations’;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Urges the Belarussian government to end discrimination and violence against all minorities, in particular ethnic, religious and sexual minorities;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the Belarussian government to impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty, as a step towards its abolition;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses its earlier call on the EU to ensure that the special tribunal to punish Russian crimes committed in- and against Ukraine must also have jurisdiction to be able to also investigate and eventually prosecute Aliaksandr Lukashenka and his regime;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the Belarusian regime’s involvement in Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, including the massive provision of ammunition and military hardware to the Russian aggressors and the use of Belarusian territory and airspace as a staging ground to launch missile attacks on military and civilian targets in Ukraine; notes that the vast majority of Belarusians disapprove of this multifaceted involvement in Russia’s war of aggression; expresses its support for the Belarusian volunteers, in particular the ‘Kalinouski’ and ‘Pahonia’ regiments, who are bravely fighting alongside the Ukrainian army to repel the aggressors;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the EU institutions and the Member States to take all the actions necessary to enable the criminal prosecution of Belarusian officials who are complicit in the war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine in particular noting the regime's collaboration, responsibility and active involvement in facilitating and executing the abduction and deportation of at least 2150 Ukrainian Children as investigated by the National Anti-Crisis Management (NAU);
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the EU institutions and the Member States to take all the actions necessary to enable the criminal prosecution of, including issuing an international arrest warrant of Aliaksandr Lukashenka and of all other Belarusian officials who are complicit in the war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to harmonize sanctions regime against Belarus and Russia in order to reduce possibility of sanction evasion; calls on the EU and its international partners to start legal proceedings against any EU or 3rd country individual or entity that helps Belarus with sanctions evasion;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on member states to refrain from lobbying openly or behind the scenes in favour of softening any of the restrictive measures against Belarus and instead to foster solidarity among member states to find solutions for problems caused by the imposed sanctions;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes with great concern the rampant economic, political and military integration of Belarus into the Union State with Russia; condemns the announced deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command on Belarusian territory; calls for the EU and the Member States to maintain unity in addressing the multifaceted threats posed by the Lukashenka regime to the EU, in particular the continued state-engineered illegal migration crisis at the borders of Belarus with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and to work in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure nuclear safety at the Belarusian NPP;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes with great concern the rampant economic, political and military integration of Belarus into the Union State with Russia; condemns the announced deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons under Russian command on Belarusian territory; reiterates that such deployment is in violation of NPT, and that it may trigger further nuclear redeployments in the region; calls on the EU and its Member States to take all possible step to prevent such deployment; calls for the EU and the Member States to maintain unity in addressing the multifaceted threats posed by the Lukashenka regime to the EU, in particular the continued state-engineered illegal migration crisis at the borders of Belarus with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and to work in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure nuclear safety at the Belarusian NPP;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to maintain unity in addressing the multifaceted threats posed by the Lukashenka regime to the EU, in particular the weaponisation of migrants at the borders of Belarus; stresses the need to guarantee the right to asylum while providing humane and dignified reception conditions to migrants and asylum-seekers stranded at the border;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses the need for Council and Commission to be prepared for different scenarios such as (forced) replacement of Lukashenka or the de-facto annexation of Belarus materializing in complete annexation or occupation and to consult with the United Transitional Cabinet regarding these different scenarios;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Condemns the increasing restrictions by the regime on the activities of the democratic parties, independent trade unions, civil society organisations; calls on the EU and its Member States to continue and increase support and cooperation with them;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on signing of an agreement to formalise and systematise cooperation between the European Parliament and the democratic forces and civil society of Belarus, including the United Transitional Cabinet and the Coordination Council;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Calls on the EU institutions to continue its support to the independent Belarus academic institutions, including European Humanities University, as well as to cultural, educational and professional training programs;