Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The strong interest shown in this House at all times, including during these questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and me, will be of great encouragement to people in Belarus. We are deeply cognisant of the migrant crisis and are working on the humanitarian aspects of it, which are crucial. We have also shown complete solidarity with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in terms of the crisis they are facing. This is new to them and not something they are used to dealing with. From my visit to Lithuania, I know the authorities there want to handle this in accordance with human rights principles. The engagement with human rights organisations and civil society is very important in that regard. However, nobody should make any mistake about the fact that Lukashenko is using people to further a political objective, and we cannot countenance or stand for that. I commend the work the Minister and his colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Council have done on pushing the sanctions. That is already having some effect and I hope it will be a lasting one.

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