Belarusian authorities must not be invited to summit in Vilnius at all

The president of the European Parliament made another principled statement on Belarus.

The president of the European Parliament Martin Schultz stated that representatives of official Minsk must not be invited to the Eastern Partnership summit, because Belarus is not a participant of the Euronest.

The deputy chairman of the Commission on European Affairs of Lithuania’s parliament Emanuelis Zingeris told Radio Svaboda about the meeting with Martin Schultz, which took place in Vilnius.

“According to Schultz, Europeans cannot compromise on what concerns European values. He said that there were blood stains on the hands of the Belarusian ruler. The case with the poor young men, who were accused and shot for the explosion in the metro, made a dreadful impression on Mr. Schultz. The legal investigation of the degree of their guilt was never finished. Mr. Schultz also said about the whole history of the Lukashenka regime, said that this dictator had blood on his hands. He condemned the regime in a very rough way and said that there will be no compromises with it in regards to moral and values. He said that Europe will not make compromises with its own conscience concerning the Belarusian authorities.

He also said that one must clearly separate what is going on in Ukraine and Belarus. What invitation may go to the Belarus’ leadership, when this country is not a member of the Eastern Partnership’s Parliamentary Assembly? It cannot be represented even at this level, since there were no legitimate elections. He sees no representation for this regime at the summit in November. It was clearly stated by the president of the European Parliament”, - Emanuelis Zingeris said.

The Lithuanian parliamentarian noted that heads of the largest fractions of the European Parliament support the president on that. The general opinion on the situation in Belarus was formed before Martin Schultz’s visit to Vilnius.

“This was the opinion, polished in European Parliament’s common farriery before the president’s visit to Vilnius. This is the reality. We see that in Vilnius the head of the European Parliament, a social-democrat, expressed himself very clearly and unambiguously in regards to Mr. Lukashenka. And the head of the largest European Parliament’s fraction, a Christian democrat Joseph Doll said the same”, - Emanuelis Zingeris said.

A European Parliament’s delegation headed by its president Martin Schultz paid a visit to Vilnius before the start of Lithuania’s EU presidency. An Eastern Partnership summit will take place in Lithuania’s capital at the end of November.