The Romanian Youth Council (CTR), together with The National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania (ANOSR) and The National Council of Students (CNE), is in solidarity with Belarusian civil society. We joined the initiative conducted by the European Youth Forum and the National Youth Council of Belarus (RADA), condemning the Government of Belarus for presidential election fraud, for the arrest of peaceful protesters and the unmotivated violence of law enforcement.

CTR, ANOSR and CNE consider that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, must be a strong voice in Friday’s debates and to militate for the protection of already heavily tried civil society, including the adoption sanctions for those who were found guilty of the abuses.

The Belarussian government and authorities must align themselves with the international democratic standards by respecting the right of every person to protest peacefully. However, the population faced violent reprisals: young people, journalists, activists protesting peacefully received brutal reactions from the authorities, violating fundamental human rights. Arrest, violence, denigration – we are at the point where protesters are killed among those who were previously detained in police custody, families not being allowed to see the bodies of loved ones.

We are convinced that the leaders of the European Union, through the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, will support the civil society in Belarus, that demands:

• Immediate cessation of violence against civil society and release of all protesters who have been abusively detained;
• Inclusion of civil society in the process of monitoring the conduct of elections, including the counting of votes;
• Guaranteeing the right to freedom of assembly;
• Security of freedom of expression;
• Ensuring access to information sources and the free movement of ideas and opinions, including through unrestricted use of the Internet and reference channels, so that citizens of Belarus and the international community will be able to have access to truthful information.

We recall that the rights listed above are found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with the right to guarantee the safety of a person, a document signed by all 193 member states of the United Nations, including Belarus. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Belarus is a member, along with 56 other Member States, promotes the concept of security, political and economic stability. This organization also clearly stipulates in its principles the respect for human rights and democracy. Bear in mind that Belarus was not accepted as a member of the Council of Europe because it does not meet the organisation’s standards on human rights and democracy, considerable progress is needed in this regard with a view to a possible favorable decision in the future.

The European Union must not look the other way. Belarusian civil society needs swift action from the European Union. It is time for European democratic states to take responsibility and strategic leadership in the region.

“The Romanian state, having a democracy won by Romanians 30 years ago through the Romanian Revolution, must show its maturity and empathy in the decisions it will support on current issue in Belarus. The rights of the citizens of this country, implicitly of the youth, must not be restricted by the political leaders who lead Belarus among the countries that do not respect the democratic values that underpin today’s Europe. We need concrete action at European Community level to define and strengthen European solidarity beyond the borders of the European Union. Thus, we, as representatives of young people, express our confidence that the Romanian authorities will condemn together with the international community any act of restricting the rule of law, freedom of expression and the participation of civil society in decisions related to the democratic future of Belarus. ” – Gabriel Carnariu, president of the Romanian Youth Council

“The entire population of the world is fighting to create a new normality after being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, during all this time the Belarusians are conducting one more fight, the one against fraud in Sunday’s presidential elections. Thus, the desire for democracy, expressed through participation in the vote and the protests that took place after the elections, turned into a violation of human rights and freedoms. We are in constant communication with European students through the European Students’ Union (ESU), and call for the release of all political prisoners, the holding of new elections in the state of Belarus and the implementation of constitutional rights regarding freedom. of expression, the freedom to choose and to be elected. ”, Petrișor-Laurențiu Țucă, president of The National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania (ANOSR)

“We stand in solidarity with the students of Belarus, who are currently suffering from the oppressive measures promoted by the Belarusian government. Freedom of expression and freedom of association are two of the fundamental human rights enshrined in international humanitarian conventions. The National Council of Students encourages the people of Belarus to continue the fight for democracy and to promote the core values of an open society, and we call on the international authorities to take drastic measures to ensure the fairness of the electoral process in recent days. ” said Rareș Voicu, president of the National Council of Student