Non-governmental organizations in Belarus condemn occupation of Crimea

Participants of the Eastern Partnership’s Civil Society Forum supported the UN resolution on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

The charter97.org web-site’s editorial office received the text of the appeal from an ecologist Tacciana Novikava.

We, citizens of the Republic of Belarus, representatives of a wide spectrum of civil society organizations, political parties, trade unions, public organizations and initiatives, condemn the official position of the Republic of Belarus at the UN General Assembly on 27 March 2014 and support the resolution on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

We believe that, having voted against the resolution of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, official Belarus:

- went in contradiction with the position of support to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, that had been repeatedly claimed before,

- showed its disregard of international agreements,

- showed its disrespect of the Ukrainian state and people, recognized as legitimate the seizure of one state’s territory by another.

It is our deep conviction that in the situation, when it is critically important by all means (first of all diplomatic) not to let a war start, Belarus must condemn the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and from the standpoint of the supremacy of international agreements and non-acceptance of one country’s aggression against another, act as a containing party. Unfortunately, this is not happening, Belarusian authorities supported the position of official Russia, having made Belarusian people a hostage to the imperial ambition of its leadership.

Apart from that, having deployed Russian military units and aviation in its territory, Belarusian leadership ignores the opinion of the citizens of our country, putting them under a possible military threat by providing Russia with a springboard for a military threat to Ukraine.

We consider that such a position does not respond the interests of Belarusian people, who wish for peace and the rule of law.

Under such circumstances we would like to urge the international community to listen to the voice of Belarusian civil society, who express the aspirations of a significant part of our country’s citizens.

At this dangerous line we urge Belarus’ government to reconsider its position and took concrete steps towards decreasing the military tensions, in particular towards the withdrawal of Russian military units, including aviation, from the territory of our country.

We express our support to the resolution of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and share the basic foundations of UN Statute on the respect to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of a state. We condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and urge it to withdraw troops from the territory of Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula.

We insist that the decisions of the Belarusian government on the friendly Ukrainian people were taken based on the interests of our citizens, the principles of peacefulness and neighbourliness.

We also support the assessment of the situation and the demands, put forward by Moldova’s national platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in the framework of the “Public position on the condemnation of the actions of the Russian Federation on the military intervention, which lead to the annexation of Crimea Autonomous Republic – Ukraine’s integral part, and on the necessary actions on the security of the Republic of Moldova”.

Belarusian civil society organizations, participants of Belarus’ national platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum