Belarusian MPs have expressed regret at the extension of the EU "black list" of Belarusian officials and have said the EU "reiterates its mistakes." "The imposition of sanctions, as any conversation from a position of power, has absolutely no future in relations with the Republic of Belarus," said the standing committee of the House of Representatives for international affairs and CIS relations.
«By its decision to impose restrictions for Belarusian officials, the EU Council has the sanctions’ lifting directly dependent on Belarus’s implementation of a number of actions, directly violating the independence and impartiality of the investigation and trial,» said in a parliamentarians’ statement.
«In addition, the imposition of visa restrictions on the judiciary members is a direct pressure on the judicial system of a sovereign country and an obvious attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of our country. This flagrantly contradicts not only the basic principles of international law, but the basics of the functioning of any democratic legal State,» underlined the members of the parliamentary commission.
The MPs have also called «absurd» the fact that the EU’s visa ban also touched upon a number of Belarusian universities’ heads, especially in light of «intense integration processes in the European educational space.»
Belarusian parliamentarians have also accused his colleagues from the European Parliament of using «double standards» in taking tough resolution on the situation in Belarus, and called their accusations towards the official Minsk » demagogic and unfounded.»
«Cooperation of the Republic of Belarus and the European Union is diverse and encompasses a variety of activities of mutual interest. Any restrictive actions or attempts to isolate Belarus eventually affect both sides. Only dialogue and the search for mutual understanding are the only right way and a reliable instrument for solving problems,» said in a statement of the Belarusian parliament.
It should be noted that the Belarusian parliamentarians have not published the official press releases about the introduction of the EU visa and financial sanctions against 157 Belarusian officials.
