Participants at a major conference in Luxembourg have explored ways that national parliaments can help to address the challenges faced by Belarusians in exile - whether practical support on issues such as avoiding reprisals and entry and residence procedures, or by helping to preserve Belarusian cultural identity and education outside the country.
The event, named "the Luxembourg solutions", was organised jointly by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies from 6-7 June 2024, and was a follow-up to an Assembly resolution on this topic adopted a year ago, based on a report by Paul Galles (Luxembourg, EPP/CD).
It brought together parliamentarians with leading figures from Belarus's democratic forces - including leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya - and with representatives of Belarusian civil society, media and academia, as well as leading Belarusian cultural figures such as writer Sasha Filipenko and the founder of the Belarus Free Theatre Natalia Kaliada.
A series of panels on Thursday considered topics such as legal entry and stay for Belarusians living in other European countries, threats to freedom of movement and the denial of consular services, as well as how to avoid reprisals at home against the families of exiles. Panels on Friday dealt with access to education for the children of exiles, ways to encourage Belarusians in business, and preserving and promoting Belarusian cultural identity.
Opening the event with a strong message of support, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos said that by helping Belarusians in exile, the Council of Europe was helping to build tomorrow's democratic Belarus: "Let us bring more Belarus into Europe, and more Europe into Belarus," he said.
Luxembourg's Foreign Affairs Minister Xavier Bettel echoed the message support, and emphasised the importance of distinguishing between the people and the regime: "One of the greatest mistakes one can make when condemning a country is to condemn its citizens too."
The leader of Belarus's democratic forces Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya referred to some of the practical difficulties that Belarusians in exile can face: "Every border crossing is like playing Russian roulette: you don't know when you could end up in jail." When fundamental rights are at stake, she suggested, bureaucracy should not get in the way of providing help to those who need it.
PACE rapporteur Paul Galles (Luxembourg, EPP/CD) said the event was "trying to write a small page of history" by proposing practical solutions to improve the lives of Belarusians who had been forced to flee the Lukashenka regime. A democratic Belarus, he pointed out, would be one of the solutions for the stability of Europe: "Belarus is a part of the European family."
For his part, award-winning Belarusian writer Sasha Filipenko testified to the Kafkaesque character of the Lukashenka regime, pointing out: "Belarus is one of the only countries in the world where people can be repressed for speaking one of the State languages: Belarusian."
Article on the Luxembourg Chambre of Deputies site (in French)
