Belarus and the EU are to discuss human rights again on June 7

A regular round of Belarus-EU dialogue on human rights will take place in Minsk on 7 June, Spokesman for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Mironchyk told media on 2 June.

“On 7 June Minsk will host the next round of the dialogue with the European Union on human rights. Taking part in the meeting will be experts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other Belarusian ministries,” said Dmitry Mironchyk. The spokesman also added that the agenda for the talks is being coordinated by the parties.

Let us recall that the first round of Belarus-EU dialogue on human rights took place on July 28, 2015 in Brussels.

Belarusian human rights fighters issued a statement ahead of the next round of EU-Belarus human rights dialog. They welcomed the continuation of the EU-Belarus human rights dialog and called on the parties “to keep the issues of human rights high on the agenda in building relationships”.

“We stress the absence of any significant progress and systemic changes in the field of human rights and freedoms in Belarus, - the statement reads. The country still: retains the death penalty; ignores key recommendations of international bodies to strengthen the judicial system; considerably restricts civil, political and socio-economic rights, including freedom of association, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly; demonstrates evidence of persecution of human rights defenders and journalists for their professional activities”.

Serious improvement is only possible through systemic changes in the field of human rights and freedoms, and through building a value-based dialog between Belarus and its international partners, as well as – most significantly – within the country, the human rights defendants claim.

The statement also highlighted that “the Belarusian human rights community should be a party to the EU-Belarus human rights dialog and be involved in this process”.