Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The state-sponsored hijacking of a civilian aircraft, Ryanair flight FR4978, travelling from Athens to Lithuania on Sunday last, 23 May, was outrageous. As we know, the plane was forced to land in Minsk under false pretences. This has been correctly described as state-sponsored piracy. The dispatch of a Belarusian fighter jet to the scene reinforces this view. In this case, we had EU citizens travelling between two EU states on board an EU-registered airline. Belarusian journalist and opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend were taken off the plane, arrested and put into detention. They have since been coerced into confessing to participation in illegal demonstrations. These confessions have been made public and are yet another case of fundamental human rights being breached. These series of events represent a serious threat to the security of EU citizens in so many ways and are a wake-up call for the EU and for all who believe in democracy.

How has the EU reacted to these events? As it happens, a meeting of the European Council was scheduled at the same time as this saga was unfolding. This was certainly a test of the resolve of the European Union. President Alexander Lukashenko is reported as saying that EU politicians do not have balls. In response, the EU strongly condemned the hijacking. It imposed sanctions on Belarus after the presidential elections last year and new sanctions have now been imposed on individuals, high-level officials, and businesses in Belarus that are supportive of the regime. That is the right approach.

In addition, EU airlines were advised not to fly over Belarus and a ban was imposed on Belarusian airlines flying into EU airspace. Again, that was right thing to do.

Separately, the International Transport Forum has requested that an official investigation be carried out by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization and I know that the Minister, Deputy Ryan, was very supportive of that.

The primary demand at this stage must be for Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend to be released immediately. The United States will also join the EU in imposing sanctions on Belarus and this is also to be welcomed.

What is the situation generally in Belarus at this time? By any standards, Alexander Lukashenko is an authoritarian ruler presiding over a dangerous regime. The election committee in Belarus gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote in the presidential election last year, when independent observers estimate that the actual vote that he got was nearer 25% to 30%. The election was therefore rigged. Subsequently, protests were brutally suppressed. Some 35,000 people were arrested. Prisoners were beaten, tortured and even raped in prison. Some candidates were imprisoned while others fled the country. Ireland must continue to raise its concerns at the EU and the UN about these ongoing human rights abuses in Belarus.

The daily harassment and intimidation of civil society, journalists and the independent media with unjust detentions and attempts to criminalise human rights are commonplace. We should also ensure that this is on the top of the agenda of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. These practices on the doorstep of the EU are totally unacceptable and must be called out and highlighted by Ireland at every available opportunity.

As regards the situation generally in Belarus, the EU rightly took a strong stand following the presidential election last year. Belarus is bordered by Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Ukraine. Given that it is generally supported by Russia, Belarus is a threat to international security. The EU, as a champion of democratic values, has also offered a €3 billion package to Belarus if it transitions to democracy. Again, this proposed practical assistance is the right thing to do. The EU, including Ireland, is not neutral when it comes to the rule of law and the protection of freedom and democracy. We must, therefore, keep Belarus high on the international agenda. I met some Belarusians outside of Leinster House a short time ago and their fear is that their country will fall down the political agenda in a couple of weeks' time.

I want to tell the House about Vitold Ashurak who died in a Belarusian prison last month on 21 May.

He was a political prisoner, an opposition activist sentenced last year at a closed trial to five years for public order offences. Aged 50, he was also an environmentalist. According to official reports, he died of cardiac failure. When his body was returned to his family, however, his head was entirely covered with bandages. The circumstances of his death are, to say the least, very suspicious and must be thoroughly and independently investigated but, unfortunately, I doubt very much that will be facilitated. I had adopted Vitold Ashurak as a political prisoner at the request of an NGO known as Libereco. Other Deputies, Senators and Irish MEPs have also adopted political prisoners in Belarus, and I encourage more to do so. Ireland and the EU must press home strongly the demand for the immediate release of all political prisoners currently in Belarusian prisons. Their only crime was standing up for democracy and fundamental human rights in their country.

Of course, the elephant in the room in this debate is Russia. Russia must be clearly seen as a threat to our security at this time and it has form in this regard. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, while in 2014, it invaded Crimea in the Ukraine. It has recently announced plans to beef up its military operations in its western region. The opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and imprisoned.

It is clear Russia engages in cyberwarfare throughout the globe. Incidentally, the Russian ambassador to Ireland was quoted in a Sunday newspaper as stating that Russia had no links to the hackers of the HSE ICT system. The least Russia can do is to ensure the criminals in its country are prevented from engaging in this activity. In 2018, there was the novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England. Election interference and cyberespionage by Russia is well-documented and its meddling in the 2020 US presidential election is also no secret. In 2014, Russian military intelligence was linked to a blast at a warehouse containing 58 tonnes of ammunition in the Czech Republic.

As regards the recent aeroplane hijacking, the Ryanair boss, Michael O'Leary, has stated that KGB agents were on board. Russia retaliated in respect of the EU flight ban by banning flights into Moscow, and within days, President Lukashenko was very publicly photographed with Vladimir Putin. It has been reported that Russia will soon send Belarus the next $500 million tranche of the $1.5 billion in agreed loans.

We can draw our own conclusions from all of this. It is clear that Russia wants to present itself as a major global power once again and its aim is to destabilise the EU. We need to wise up to all this. From what I can see, the US intends to do so in any event. The US President, Joe Biden, has stated that he will raise abuses of human rights with President Putin when he meets him in Geneva this month. President Biden has spoken about democracy being under threat in the US and globally, and again we all need to appreciate this.

This brings me to the issue of growing authoritarianism throughout the globe, and in particular within the EU. Of course, I have Hungary and Poland in mind in this context. Gradually, democratic norms are being eroded in some EU states and that is a worry. Let us hope this is just a temporary phenomenon. Press freedom, an independent judiciary, academic freedom, tolerance of minorities, checks and balances and the right to protest are all basic democratic norms, yet the EU does not seem to have the tools for monitoring and sanctioning non-compliance. While there are Article 7 and other mechanisms, there is a weakness as regards qualified majority voting when it comes to European Council meetings for some reason, to take one example. The EU is divided between those who wish to punish offenders and those who think they should be encouraged to stay within the tent, so to speak. On the EU recovery fund being contingent on rule of law adherence, for example, a fudge was eventually agreed, and it remains to be seen what will happen in the end in that regard.

Democracy is a fragile form of government and it is under threat from creeping authoritarianism. Democracies do not automatically self-renew. We must be conscious of this before it is too late and we cannot take our democracy for granted. I will support the motion. As other Deputies said, perhaps we should do a bit more than what is contained therein, but this debate is most welcome and timely.

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