Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Almost a year ago in August 2020, Belarus held a presidential election that was totally unfair and not transparent, as acknowledged by the European Commission and many international organisations. Viktor Lukashenko kept power after that election notwithstanding that it was widely viewed that he did not and does not have the support of the Belarusian people. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition leader who is widely deemed to have won that election but is now essentially in exile, will visit Ireland today.

It is very important that we stand up for Belarus not just because there are many Belarusian citizens in Ireland, not just because Belarus is the last dictatorship in Europe and on the borders of the EU, not just because Ireland is on the United Nations Security Council and not just because the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has deep personal connections with Belarus and has taken a strong line on this, but because we all know and recognise that what is happening in Belarus is wrong.

At least 30 Irish parliamentarians have adopted Belarusian prisoners. There are some 550 political prisoners in prison in Belarus at the moment. One of the other candidates in that presidential election was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment this week. On the borders of the EU, our neighbours are suppressing their opponents, suppressing their population and suppressing democracy. We must ensure this is not allowed to continue.

On Thursday, meetings will take place with Ms Tikhanovskaya. I hope we will take a strong line on that. I hope that Ireland will take its role seriously as part of the international community to re-emphasise that the behaviour of Viktor Lukashenko and his regime is illegal, undemocratic and unacceptable, and will not be tolerated by us or by the international community. The sanctions imposed by Europe in this regard are simply insufficient. Steps must be taken to move this matter forward and to advance the case of democracy in Europe and across the world.