Photo: PAP
Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the Joint Transitional Cabinet, and Uladzimir Astapenka, Representative for International and European Cooperation of the Cabinet, are taking part in the economic forum in Karpacz, Poland. It discusses the issues of resuming the Eastern Partnership program for the Belarusian society and bringing the Lukashenka regime to justice for international crimes.
On September 3, Pavel Latushka became the speaker of two panel discussions of the forum dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership and the responsibility of the Lukashenka regime for international crimes.
In his speeches, he said that Belarus had regressed in relations with the European Union: on June 28, 2021, the Lukashenka regime announced the suspension of our country’s participation in this project.
Over the years of Belarus’ participation in the Eastern Partnership program, EU funds in Belarus have been used for energy conservation, restoration of water infrastructure, and small business development. EU assistance in the form of grants amounted to about 30 million euros annually.
The Eastern Partnership has opened up an opportunity for Belarus to finance infrastructure projects and small businesses through international European banking structures. About 500 million euros of loan funds were allocated to Belarus annually. Moreover, the EU has not put forward any political requirements for obtaining them.
The Eastern Partnership must be transformed. The Lukashenko regime has dropped out of the Eastern Partnership, but there remains a society that wants democracy, economic development, and will be ready to make a European choice in the future, Pavel Latushka is sure.
He also noted that Lukashenka pursues a large-scale and systematic policy of suppressing dissent: more than 65,000 detainees; 5,000 complaints of torture and cruel or inhuman treatment filed by Belarusians, with zero investigations into such complaints; at least 636 documented facts of torture; 6 deaths in custody; 5 deaths during protests; 1,371 officially recognized as a political prisoner; more than 300,000 Belarusians who were deported from Belarus, etc.
“We are actively advocating for partner countries to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction at the national level to bring perpetrators to criminal responsibility (for example, prison chiefs, prosecutors, judges, investigators). We are petitioning our partners to transfer materials on the situation in Belarus to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for consideration,” Latushka said in particular.
