Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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194. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps Ireland can take, acting unilaterally or in tandem with European partners, to support the democracy building work of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarussian opposition leader living in exile in Lithuania; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9698/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland remains extremely concerned at the ongoing erosion of human rights and democracy in Belarus.

As was the case with the fraudulent 2020 and 2024 elections, the Belarusian presidential election on 26 January 2025 can be considered neither free nor fair. I am deeply conscious that the people of Belarus have once again been denied a real voice in the governing of their country.

The relentless and unprecedented repression of human rights, restrictions on political participation and access to independent media in Belarus deprived the electoral process of any legitimacy. Furthermore, the Lukashenko regime breached its international commitments by issuing a late invitation to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, thereby preventing it from deploying a meaningful election observation mission.

It is clear that the Lukashenko regime’s continued persecution and intimidation of all segments of Belarusian society is intended to stifle freedom of expression and prevent any criticism of the regime.

The EU response following the presidential election in Belarus in August 2020 and the crackdown on peaceful protesters, democratic opposition and journalists that followed has been based on two pillars. The first focuses on imposing restrictive measures against the authoritarian Lukashenko regime, while the second one has envisaged support for civil society, the exiled political opposition and the Belarusian pro-democracy movement. The EU adopted further measures against Belarus, in view of its involvement in Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. A Consultative Group between the EU and Belarusian democratic movement and civil society acts as a forum to inform further EU actions in support of a free, sovereign, and democratic Belarus.

Ireland’s response to the situation in Belarus has focused on working bilaterally, at EU, and multilateral level, to support civil society and the democratic opposition in exile and to highlight concerns regarding the Lukashenko regime including its consistent use of state sponsored crack-downs to stifle opposition voices and shore up its own illegitimate authoritarianism.

In 2024 Ireland co-hosted a side event at the Human Rights Council entitled “Belarus: Crackdown on Civil Society Continues”, to hear from the Special Rapporteur on Belarus and representatives of civil society organisations on the needs of civil society and the human rights situation in Belarus.

My Department has provided bilateral funding to Viasna, an NGO which provides medical, psychological and humanitarian support to current and former political prisoners. My Department has also provided funding to several other Belarusian civil society projects, including in support of independent media, through grants provided by the European Endowment for Democracy.

On 26 January, together with other EU Foreign Affairs Ministers, I met with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, in Brussels ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council. At that meeting, I reiterated Ireland's commitment to continuing to speak out against the Lukashenko regime and to support the rights of the Belarusian population and the Belarusian democratic movement.

This formed part of our ongoing bilateral engagement with the Belarusian democratic movement. I met Ms Tsikhanouskaya during the European Political Community Summit in July 2024. Ms Tsikhanouskaya met with then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024 and Minister of State Burke during his visit to Lithuania in November 2023. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya visited Ireland in May 2023 to receive the Tipperary International Peace Prize, and had meetings with the President, Taoiseach and Tánaiste. Our Embassy in Vilnius is accredited to Belarus and is in regular contact with representatives of the democratic movement in exile, who are based in Lithuania.

Ireland will continue to support strong coordinated EU sanctions and other measures, including action at the OSCE and at the UN, to hold Belarus accountable for its violations of human rights and the rule of law, and its complicity in Russia’s ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine.

At the same, we will continue to focus on working bilaterally and at EU level to ensure that in this increasingly difficult context the people of Belarus are assured of the EU’s continued focus and commitment to their well-being, human rights and legitimate aspiration to a prosperous future in a democratic Belarus.