Ukraine supports the EU in its stance on Lukashenko’s regime

Ukraine has endorsed the statement of the European Union in which it calls on the Belarusian authorities to free the former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kazulin.

“The EU is gravely disturbed by the sentencing on 13 July 2006 of the former Belarusian presidential candidate Aleksandr Kazulin to five and a half years imprisonment”, the statement reads.

The European Union, and Ukraine, consider Kazulin’s sentence on charges of hooliganism and disrupting public order to be politically motivated.

The EU is convinced that this is yet another example of the attempts by the Belarusian authorities to punish the democratic opposition for using their democratic rights.

The statement calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release Kazulin and all other political prisoners.

The European Union adds that it remains ready to develop relations with Belarus, including the European neighbourhood policy, on condition that the Belarusian authorities show their will to respect human rights and democratic values, and also initiate democratic reforms.

Ukraine previously joined the EU in calling on the Belarusian authorities to free all political prisoners.

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