The EC adopted a new support package for Belarusians in the amount of EUR 30 million

The European Commission adopted a new support package of EUR 30 million for Belarusians. These funds are intended to support independent Belarusian media, as well as civil society organizations and human rights defenders.

According to the Commission, thanks to the new package, “the volume of EU support for Belarusian civil society since the fraudulent elections in 2020 now amounts to EUR 200 million.”

The new package, developed in close cooperation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society, aims to provide assistance to victims of repression, support journalists providing credible information and promote actions to bring to justice those from Alexander Lukashenko's regime who committed crimes.

The EC stressed that although the recent release of some political prisoners in Belarus is a step in the right direction, all prisoners there must be released unconditionally. In the EC's opinion, opponents of the authorities in Minsk must also be able to live without fear.

– The Belarusian people will one day shape their country. The European Union will continue to support him and keep this hope alive. The financing of EUR 30 million will strengthen support for victims of repression, independent journalists and initiatives seeking to settle the crimes committed by the Lukashenko regime. Authoritarian power always has its limits. And when that time comes in Belarus, the European Union will support people in regaining their rights, assured Kaja Kallas, head of EU diplomacy.

At the end of November, Reuters, citing three sources familiar with the matter, reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump and the Belarusian authorities were talking about the possible release of at least 100 political prisoners held in that country.

According to these sources, although the Belarusian regime has released several dozen political prisoners since Trump took office in January 2025, this time US officials intend to release well over a hundred of those held at once.

The largest group so far – 52 people – was released in September. Western human rights organizations estimate that Alexander Lukashenko's regime is holding over a thousand political prisoners, including his former rivals in the presidential elections and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Byalatsky.

The person involved on the American side in talks on the release of prisoners is said to be John Coale, whom Trump appointed as his special envoy for Belarus in early November. Reuters noted that it is not known yet which prisoners could be released or when this would happen.

Reuters explained that the Trump administration's push for the largest release of Belarusian political prisoners so far is part of the US' attempts to thaw relations with Lukashenko in exchange for a promise to ease sanctions. According to US officials, this is part of a broader plan to pull Belarus out of Russia's orbit of influence or at least weaken Russian influence.

Belarus facilitated Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and in recent weeks, balloons released from its territory have regularly disrupted traffic at Lithuanian airports.

Reuters recalled that in recent months, Trump and his envoys talked directly with Lukashenko, and the US Treasury began to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Belarus.

From Brussels Łukasz Osiński (PAP)

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