High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell launched today a new Consultative Group between the European Union and Belarusian democratic forces and civil society, in the presence of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other prominent figures of the Belarusian opposition and civil society.

Acting as a platform of dialogue between the EU and representatives of the Belarusian civil society, the Consultative group will ensure information sharing on the situation in the country, and will help shape further EU actions in support of a free, sovereign, and democratic Belarus. During their first meeting today in Brussels, the EU and Belarusian representatives exchanged views on the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, including the conditions of political prisoners and their families, as well as the aims and needs of democratic forces.

The participants condemned the complicity of Belarus in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including the regime’s increased nuclear rhetoric, which further threaten the country’s sovereignty.

In the margins of the event, High Representative Josep Borrell had a bilateral meeting with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In light of the increased violence and repression by the Lukashenko regime, the High Representative reaffirmed the EU’s continued support to all those who courageously stand up for a free, independent and democratic Belarus.

Since the fraudulent elections of August 2020, the EU has committed more than €100 million in support of the Belarusian people, including human rights organisations, civil society, independent media, cultural institutions, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The EU remains ready to activate a €3 billion comprehensive plan in support of a democratic Belarus, once Belarus embarks on a path to democratic transition.