Lithuania welcomes decision by Belarusian authorities to release political prisoners
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania welcomes the decision taken by the President of Belarus to release six political prisoners: Mikalay Dzyadok, Ihar Alinevich, Mikalay Statkevich, Yauhen Vaskovich, Artsyom Prakapenka and Yuriy Rubtsov.
We discussed the necessity of such a decision with representatives of the Belarusian authorities long time ago. This is an essential step for correcting the violation of human and civil rights of these people and enabling their return to political life of Belarus.
This decision paves the way for normalisation of relations between the European Union and Belarus and opens up new opportunities for closer cooperation between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries. Hopefully, this decision will also serve as a premise of the dialogue between institutions of the Belarusian authorities, civil society and the opposition on the country’s future political, social and economic model, domestic and foreign policy issues.
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