Bilateral relations between the European Union (EU) and Belarus began in 1991, when the EU formally recognized the independence of Belarus. In 1995, they signed the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation that was established to regulate the mutual political and economic relations. As of the political situation in Belarus since 1997, this agreement remains frozen. EU had as well introduced a number of sanctions towards Belarus. The release of political prisoners and the execution of the presidential elections in non-violent environment in Belarus in 2015, resulted in the warming of EU-Belarus relations. EU eased some sanctions against Belarus, which relate to the freezing of assets, travel ban and trade and financial restrictions as well. EU conditions the complete withdrawal of sanctions on improving the situation of human rights and democratic elections in Belarus.
The upcoming parliamentary elections in Belarus, therefore, play an important role in strengthening democratic institutions, which is one of key commitments of the EU. In Belarus, on 11 October 2015, the presidential elections have shown that the conduct of the elections in Belarus is still not in compliance to the commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international principles for democratic elections.
The Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) pointed out that Belarus must reform its electoral law to be able to provide a competitive political environment, which is crucial for long-term democratic stability of the country.
The final report of the OSCE / ODIHR on the implementation of the presidential election was published on 28 January 2016. It stresses the importance of political will for the implementation of the overall reform of elections and addresses the national authorities, political parties and civil society of Belarus to support their efforts to conduct the upcoming elections in accordance with OSCE commitments and standards for conducting democratic elections.
As the method of conducting parliamentary elections in September is essential for further interactions with the EU, a round table discussion will be held on 18 May 2016 in Minsk regarding the improvement of the electoral process in Belarus. The round table will be organized within the 2015-2017 EU-CoE Eastern Partnership Programmatic Co-operation Framework (PCF) in co-operation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. The roundtable will be attended by Dr Gorazd Justinek, executive director of the Centre for European Perspective and Slovenian legal expert, Dr. Jernej Letnar Černič, who will present Slovenian good practices in ensuring transparency of the electoral process.
The project is funded within the framework of International Development Cooperation of the Republic of Slovenia.
Okrogla miza »Izboljšanje volilnih standardov in volilnega procesa v Belorusiji«
Bilateralni odnosi med Evropsko unijo (EU) in Belorusijo segajo v leto 1991, ko je EU formalno priznala neodvisnost Belorusije. Leta 1995 sta podpisali Sporazum o partnerstvu in sodelovanju, namenjen urejanju medsebojnih političnih in gospodarskih odnosov, ki pa zaradi politične situacije v Belorusiji od leta 1997 ostaja zamrznjen, proti državi pa je EU uvedla številne sankcije. V preteklem letu prišlo do otoplitve odnosov, k kateri je s strani Belorusije pripomogla izpustitev političnih zapornikov ter izvedba predsedniških volitev v nenasilnem okolju. Nedavno dvostransko zbližanje obeh držav je zato EU spodbudilo k omilitvi sankcij proti Belorusiji, ki se nanašajo na zamrznitev sredstev, prepoved potovanj ter trgovinske in finančne omejitve. Popolni umik sankcij pa EU pogojuje z izboljšanjem razmer na področju človekovih pravic in demokratičnosti volitev v Belorusiji.
Prihajajoče parlamentarne volitve zato v Belorusiji igrajo pomembno vlogo pri krepitvi demokratičnosti institucij, kar je ena izmed temeljnih zavez Evropske unije (EU). V Belorusiji so 11. oktobra 2015 potekale predsedniške volitve, ki pa so pokazale, da Belorusija pri izvedbi volitev še ne dosega zavez Organizacije za varnost in sodelovanje v Evropi (OVSE) in drugih mednarodnih načel demokratičnih volitev.
Parlamentarna skupščina Sveta Evrope (PACE) je v svojem poročilu izpostavila, da mora Belorusija reformirati svojo volilno zakonodajo, da bo lahko zagotovila konkurenčno politično okolje, ki je ključnega pomena za dolgoročno demokratično stabilnost države.
Končno poročilo OVSE/ODHIR o izvedbi predsedniških volitev, ki je bilo objavljeno 28. januarja 2016, poudarja pomen politične volje za izvedbo celotne reforme s področja volitev in poziva državne organe, politične stranke in civilno družbo Belorusije k izvedbi prihajajočih volitev v skladu z OVSE zavezami in standardi za izvedbo demokratičnih volitev.
Način izvedbe parlamentarnih volitev v septembru je ključnega pomena za izboljšanje odnosov z EU, zato bo 18. maja 2016 v Minsku potekala okrogla miza glede izboljšanje volilnega procesa v Belorusiji. Okrogla miza bo organizirana znotraj Okvirnega programskega sodelovanja za partnerstva vzhodno-evropskih držav, ki je bil sklenjen med EU in Svetom Evrope za obdobje 2015-2017, v sodelovanju z Narodno skupščino Belorusije. Na okrogli mizi bo sodeloval tudi dr. Gorazd Justinek, izvršni direktor Centra za evropsko prihodnost ter pravni strokovnjak, dr. Jernej Letnar Černič, ki bo predstavil slovenske dobre prakse pri zagotavljanju transparentnosti volilnega procesa.
Projekt je financiran v okviru Mednarodnega razvojnega sodelovanja Republike Slovenije.
