Brussels, 15 February 2010

The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, and the EPP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski denounced today's actions of the Belarusian authorities against the civil society and democratic opposition in Belarus.

"The arrest of members of the civil society, democratic opposition, including activists of the Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB) and its democratically elected Chairwoman Angelika Borys, as well as the leader of EPP member-party United Civil Party of Belarus (UCP) - Anatol Lebedźka are acts absolutely unacceptable by the EPP" underlined President Martens and continued to say that "the EPP calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately free all of the arrested activists and members of the democratic opposition."

 "The arrest of over 40 civil society and democratic opposition activists is a deliberate act aiming at prohibiting fair and just course of today's trial concerning the Polish Community House in Iwieniec, as well as eliminating the Union of Poles in Belarus from the Belarusian political scene," added EPP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski.

"Needless to say, these latest actions of Belarusian authorities raise serious concerns about the future relations between EU and Belarus," President Martens concluded.

Note to editors:

The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 72 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the Commission, Council, and Parliament, 13 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.

For more information:

Kostas Sasmatzoglou, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147

Javier Jiménez, EPP Press Officer, Tel: +32-475480446