EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, put Belarus on a par with Burma, Iran, Ivory Coast, Libya and North Korea in her speech before the Council of the UN Human Rights. According to Catherine Ashton, human rights are oppressed in these countries, as well as in Belarus, in connection with which the EU High Representative has once again expressed deep concern.
«Everyone knows that in several countries, people’s rights are at risk: in Iran, where we’ve seen a steep rise in executions; in Belarus, where we’re deeply concerned at the number of political prisoners,» — said Catherine Ashton.
In this regard, the EU High Representative called on the European community to help the peoples of these countries and to take concrete steps to ensure freedom of speech, fair elections, equal rights of citizens and impartial administration. Catherine Ashton said that at the present time it is important not so much the adoption of various resolutions, how many specific actions and, accordingly, the results of which can be achieved in the field of human rights in these countries.
As Telegraf previously reported, Catherine Ashton, responding to the head of the International Relations Committee of Lithuanian Seimas Emmanuelisu Zingeris about the situation in Belarus, said that Brussels «should act decisively» against the Belarusian authorities. Catherine Ashton has been regularly making similar suggestions since the last presidential election in Belarus, condemning «the repression of the opposition parties, civil society and journalists by the Belarusian authorities.»
