MEP Anna Fotyga Urged Mogherini to Respond to the Blocking of "Charter-97"

The former Polish foreign minister sent a special request to the EU High Representative.

The address of the former foreign minister of Poland Anna Fotyga to Frederica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, says:

"Freedom of speech, media pluralism and daily access to information are core European values, which experience deficit in the post-Soviet space. After the refusal to accredit Belsat TV channel, repressions on Radio Svaboda journalists, Lukashenka's regime has decided to curb freedom of media on the Internet by blocking Charter97.org, one of the most popular sources of unbiased information in Belarus.

On January 24 the Belarusian authorities blocked the access to the site "Charter-97" in Belarus. The Ministry of Information of Belarus reported that the site was blocked for "extremism" and the publication of information prohibited by law. The information violated the law is not specified.

Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, called on to unlock the access to the site Charter97.org. He recognized the blocking of the site as an unacceptable restriction of freedom of speech and access to information.

Meanwhile, Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, who visited Minsk on January 30 and met with Lukashenka, did not respond to concerning situation with freedom of speech in Belarus.

What steps is the EU going to take to cease the growing restriction of freedom of speech and access to information in Belarus, and in particular, to return the access to the portal Charter97.org?

How does Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, evaluate the cohesion policy with the Lukashenka regime amid deteriorating situation with human rights and the state of democracy?"

It will be recalled that on January 24 the Lukashenka regime blocked an independent information source Charter97.org. The first Deputy Minister of Information Ihar Lutski confirmed the blocking access. The Ministry of Information is headed by Aliaksandr Karlyukevich.