In Strasbourg, during a plenary session of the European Parliament, a debate took place on the situation in Belarus in light of the recent release of political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, the husband of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was arrested in 2020 after announcing his intention to run in the presidential election against Alexander Lukashenko, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on fabricated charges, including allegedly leading anti-regime protests. PiS MEPs Adam Bielan, Małgorzata Gosiewska, and Mariusz Kamiński took the floor during the discussion.
Adam Bielan spoke about the rigged 2020 presidential election in Belarus and the wave of peaceful demonstrations that followed. As he recalled, the regime responded not with dialogue, but with brutal repression. “Since then, we have witnessed the dismantling of civil society, attacks on religious freedom, and mass repression,” the PiS MEP emphasized. According to the politician, the recent release of 30 political prisoners, including Siarhei Tsikhanouski, made possible thanks to the United States, “is a positive step,” but insufficient. He noted that more than 1,100 political prisoners, including Andrzej Poczobut, remain behind bars—many in harsh, inhumane conditions, facing torture, isolation, and medical neglect. The PiS MEP stated that the ECR Group is calling on the EU and its member states to hold the Lukashenko regime accountable for its crimes. “The release of a few must not divert our attention from the ongoing suffering of many. There can be no normalization without genuine democratic reforms and the unconditional release of all political prisoners,” he emphasized.
Małgorzata Gosiewska stated that Lukashenko had released 30 hostages. “Not ‘prisoners’—hostages, brutally tortured, mentally and physically broken. Their appearance says it all. Look at Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s face—this is not the face of a man who has regained his freedom. It is evidence of a crime,” she emphasized.
At the same time, the MEP noted that the regime is not stopping there. As the head of the delegation for relations with Belarus pointed out, there have already been over 1,700 detentions in 2025. “Hundreds of new hostages. Pseudo-courts operate every day, as in the case of Wiktoria Kulsza, who has now received her fifth sentence. This is not the rule of law. It is a system of terror, and pardons are a cynical ploy by the regime. It’s a smokescreen,” Gosiewska argued. According to the PiS MEP, Lukashenko is weakening, and the sanctions imposed on the regime are working. “And that is precisely why we must not ease them now! We must strengthen them—strike more precisely and more deeply,” she urged.
The PiS MEP called on the EU to show unity and resolve: “The Union must speak with one voice: no concessions, no illusions.” She emphasized that sanctions could be suspended in only one case—the full and immediate release of all political prisoners and a guarantee that there will be no further repression.
“Every step backward is a condoning of a crime. Long live Belarus!” she added.
Mariusz Kamiński noted that this was yet another debate on the situation in Belarus and “Lukashenko’s grim dictatorship, which has been going on for 30 years.” He emphasized that Lukashenko’s rule has been a time of brutal trampling of fundamental human rights and the nation’s basic right to live in a democratic and independent state. “Lukashenko is the executioner of his own people, a Russian puppet who, without Putin’s support and terror, would not be able to stay in power,” said the PiS politician.
However, as he emphasized, Lukashenko’s vile face is not the symbol of Belarus today. “Today, Belarus has its true heroes—freedom fighters,” — said Kamiński, recalling the persecuted opposition figures: Raman Bandarenka, murdered five years ago on the streets of Minsk; Ales Bialiatski, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently in prison; the outstanding journalists Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Andrei Pochobuta, as well as thousands of lesser-known heroes, such as the married couple Hanna Kmit and Andrei Selianinau. “They are the true face of Belarus. The fight for their freedom is our moral and political duty,” he emphasized.
