EU welcomes Minsk's plan of action to implement UN human rights recommendations

The European Union welcomes the Belarusian government's move to adopt a plan of action to implement some recommendations made by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council, Andrea Wiktorin, head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, said at a conference in Minsk on October 27.

The diplomat said that Minsk had become more willing to discuss human rights issues, and noted that Belarus and the EU had intensified their human rights dialogue this year. At the same time, she added, the EU is aware that efforts to develop democracy and improve human rights are still a challenge for the Belarusian government.

Ms. Wiktorin described the continued use of the death penalty in Belarus as the main obstacle to the development of dialogue between the country and the EU. The 28-nation bloc will continue discussing the matter with the Belarusian authorities, she said.

The action plan was adopted by the government earlier this week. Human rights defenders cautiously welcomed the plan but said that it lacked specifics and would hardly lead to significant changes in the country's human rights situation.