Lukashenko must be held accountable on par with Putin - European Parliament

The corresponding resolution based on the report drawn by MEP from Lithuania Petras Auštrevičius was adopted today during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg by an overwhelming majority of votes: 453 deputies voted "for", 21 - "against", and another 40 MEPs abstained.

The European Parliament “condemns in the strongest possible terms the Lukashenka regime’s involvement in Russia's unjustified, illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine... Considers that… as become an accomplice in the crimes committed by Russia, which implies responsibility for the destruction and damage caused to Ukraine; deems, furthermore, that the special international tribunal on the crime of aggression perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine must have jurisdiction to investigate not only Putin and the Russian political and military leadership, but also the Belarusian leadership," the document says.

The resolution recalls the full list of crimes of the Belarusian regime, ranging from inciting hatred and participating in Russia’s anti-Ukrainian propaganda, to directly supporting the Russian army, including by allowing it to attack Ukraine from the territory of Belarus and directly supplying ammunition and military equipment. Lukashenka's regime must bear responsibility for complicity in the crime of aggression, in war crimes, in crimes against humanity, and for the crime of genocide committed against Ukraine.

Accordingly, the EU member states are advised to look for legal ways to seize the financial assets of the Belarusian leadership and relevant enterprises in order to direct them, if possible, to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Members of the European Parliament called for the application of "mirror" sanctions against Belarus, similar to those applied by the EU against Russia in connection with its aggression against Ukraine.

At the same time, the deputies emphasized that the vast majority of Belarusians do not support the multidimensional involvement of Belarus in Russian aggression against Ukraine. Some Belarusian citizens actively oppose such actions of the Lukashenka regime, which betrays its own country and hands it over to the Russian dictator. Belarusian volunteers are fighting against the Russian aggressor as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, as part of the Kastuś Kalinouski regiment.

A separate section of the resolution is dedicated to the illegal deportation of more than 2,150 children from Ukraine to Belarus, including orphans, who were forcibly brought there from territories temporarily occupied by Russian troops. The European Parliament supported the investigation by the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine into the role played by Belarus in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children, and the prosecution of the Belarusian dictator for these crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, as was done in relation to the Russian leadership.

"The European Parliament... considers Lukashenka as responsible for these war crimes as Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova and therefore calls on the ICC to consider issuing a similar international warrant for Lukashenka’s arrest; calls on the Council to expand the list of individuals targeted by the EU’s sanctions to include those involved in forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Belarus," the document says.

The MEPs called on the Council of the EU and the EU High Representative to consider additional measures against the Lukashenko regime, in addition to the already applied sanctions, and to develop a broad and long-term approach to relations with Belarus, in close cooperation with the EU's international partners.

As already reported, the Lukashenko regime has been actively supporting the aggressor power, Russia, since the outset of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, including by providing its territory for the training of Russian troops and setting up attacks against Ukraine, including missile and drone strikes. For these crimes, the Belarusian dictator must bear responsibility at the same level as the political leadership of the Russian Federation.