NEWS

Commissioner: independent media plays crucial role in Belarus

23-07-2012

It is wrong to interpret the future of Belarus as the choice between Russia and the EU, Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Commissioner Štefan Füle told a group of independent Belarusian journalists in Brussels. "In reality, the choice is between democracy with accountability on one side and autocracy on the other,” said Füle during the discussion last week that focused on the situation in Belarus, the EU’s policy towards the country and the European Dialogue on Modernisation with Belarusian society.

The Commissioner said the Belarusian independent media played “a crucial role in the state dominated media landscape in Belarus and have been one of the main victims of the authorities’ crackdown on independent opinions after the 2010 Presidential elections,” deserving the EU’s full support in these difficult times.

Commissioner Füle elaborated on the three pillars of the EU approach to Belarus: targeted sanctions, support to civil society and the European Dialogue on Modernisation. He stressed that the EU was paying close attention to developments in Belarus while deploring the lack of improvements in democratic standards and respect for human rights.
 
The Commissioner hailed the fact that independent journalists in Belarus followed closely developments in EU-Belarus relations, including the European Dialogue on Modernisation, which aimed to discuss with the civil society and democratic opposition in the country the vision of a modern Belarus, the necessary reforms and possible EU support. (EU Neighbourhood Info) 
 
Read more
 
Press release
 
EU Delegation to Belarus
 
ENPI Info Centre webpage - Belarus
 

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