Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I believe that any Belarusians listening to this debate will take some courage from it. I hope they will because it is a country that needs solidarity and support not only from its close neighbours, but from other countries across Europe and the world. The truth is that sanctions very rarely work overnight. Sometimes they do not work at all. The European Union has tried to respond with sanctions targeted at individuals who are involved in, or linked to, inappropriate and illegal behaviour. At the same time, it has tried not to impose sanctions that would cause more misery for Belarusians. It is a very difficult balance to get right. We have a lot of debate within the Foreign Affairs Council on how to use sanctions appropriately. The way the European Union uses sanctions is quite different from how other regions use sanctions. However, the European Union's efforts to isolate Lukashenko and his regime with a view to bringing about change have not been successful so far. That does not mean that they will not be successful in the future. It will take sustained effort and sustained support for democratic movements within Belarus and outside, where many people are living in exile.

Ireland's first approach has been to use all tools of multilateral diplomacy at our disposal. Ireland has been vocal on the situation in Belarus in multilateral settings. Internationally, Ireland has long had a reputation for being a small but vocal country that consistently stands up for human rights, for the rule of law, for fundamental freedoms and for the right of people to choose who rules them. We have a pretty strong record in doing so not only in the context of Belarus, but of some of the other countries also mentioned here today. I have been involved in debates relating to China, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia at the level of the UN Security Council and the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and I have repeatedly raised the plight of Belarus at the Human Rights Council, at the UN Security Council and at a variety of other EU and multilateral meetings. We have called for the implementation of a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, and for an expert investigator. We have supported an extension of the mandate for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate human rights violations in Belarus. We continue to speak up. Indeed, this Friday, our ambassador, Geraldine Byrne Nason, will address the matter at an Arria formula meeting of the Security Council convened by Estonia which Ireland has co-sponsored.

With regard to sanctions, as I have said, Ireland has worked in support of EU sanctions against Lukashenko's regime and associated individuals and commercial entities. EU citizens and companies are now forbidden from making any funds available to those on the sanctions list. I can confirm that my diplomats in Brussels are working closely with their European colleagues on a fifth package of sanctions to try to achieve what I mentioned earlier. This is not a fight with the Belarusian people. It needs to be a targeted isolation of a dictator and the people around him.

With regard to Ireland's support for human rights in Belarus, Ireland is giving financial support to projects that seek to protect the human rights and media freedoms of the Belarusian people through the European Endowment for Democracy. Autocrats fear the free press. BelTA, the Belarusian news service, has limited its output and other news outlets have been harassed and forcibly closed down. I am glad that Ireland's funds are helping ordinary Belarusians to access the truth and facts. Other financial support comes in the form of a promise by the EU to provide a €3 billion economic stabilisation package. The funds will be unlocked once Belarus embarks on its democratic transition. If and when that transition begins, the EU will be in a position to provide generous practical financial support to the people of Belarus. We can help make their vision of a brighter future a practical reality on the ground if given the democratic opportunity to do so.

A number of people, and Senator Higgins in particular, have raised the issue of the situation on the EU borders. I thank the Senators who discussed the Lukashenko regime's shocking weaponisation of migrants and refugees. That is not a term I use lightly. Ireland has provided €100,000 to the Lithuanian Red Cross to help migrants pushed into Lithuania's border region by Belarus. We are open to further EU sanctions that specifically target individuals and entities facilitating the weaponisation of migrants. We will continue to stand in solidarity with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in securing the EU's external borders while also ensuring that migrants' human rights are protected.It is important, of course, to situate this crisis in a broader humanitarian crisis facing the European Union. More than 1,300 men, women, boys and girls have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year alone. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and continuing conflict in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere means the number of people attempting to cross the sea or travel through other routes into Europe is likely to continue to increase in future. It is incumbent on member states to abide by their obligations and responsibilities under the Dublin regulation. Ireland has consistently advocated that migration is a challenge that confronts of all as a Union together which we must approach in a greater spirit of solidarity and responsibility if we are to overcome the difficulties confronting front-line states in particular. I have a note on the Ryanair flight but people are already familiar with it.

My approach on this is, I hope, one of consistency. This is a word that came up in a number of speeches this evening. Irish people have an emotional connection with Belarus in a way that adds to the sense of responsibility and solidarity, and to the expectation that I, on behalf of Ireland as its Minister for Foreign Affairs, would take a tough line on this issue that is consistent, fair and truthful, and we will do so. This is why Ireland, despite the fact we do not border Belarus as many EU countries do, has in many ways been one of the most vocal EU countries on what continues to happen in Belarus.

We are also the most vocal country in the EU on the Middle East peace process, despite the fact some people think I do not go far enough. Believe me, I am vocal. I also insist on being balanced and fair. Just like when I am critical of Israeli foreign policy towards Palestinians, I am also extremely critical of violent movements such as Hamas, which are playing a very corrosive role in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. We will remain resolute in trying to support democratic forces.

It is not up to Irish people, or anybody else for that matter, to determine who should politically lead Belarus but it is up to Belarusians to have the right to choose their own leader. This is simply all we are searching for and to call out the actions of a pretty brutal dictator who is looking to hold on to power through fear and intimidation, and who is using the forces of the state and resources supplied to him by some other states not from the European Union to stay in power.