An amendment tabled by Tomasz Froelich on behalf of the ESN group to a European Parliament joint resolution on political prisoners in Belarus would fundamentally shift the text from a condemnatory stance to a transactional, US-brokered negotiation approach. The amendment, filed on 17 June 2026, introduces a new paragraph noting that sanctions relief has already secured the release of over 400 political prisoners, including 2025 Sakharov Prize laureate Andrzej Poczobut, and encourages the US administration to continue this policy. This directly contradicts the joint motion, co-authored by PPE, S&D, ECR, Renew, Verts/ALE, and The Left, which maintains a position of no concessions to the Lukashenka regime and focuses on continued pressure and accountability.
The amendment is the only substantive challenge to the joint motion, which is scheduled for a plenary vote. If adopted, it would insert a pragmatic, deal-making perspective into a resolution otherwise built on condemnation and non-recognition. The ESN group's proposal effectively endorses a US-led policy of exchanging sanctions relief for prisoner releases, implicitly legitimising the Lukashenka regime as a negotiating partner. The joint motion's authors, by contrast, reject any transactional engagement with the regime. The amendment represents a clear cleavage between a principled, condemnatory stance and a pragmatic approach that accepts sanctions relief as a legitimate bargaining chip. The outcome of the vote will determine whether the European Parliament endorses a more flexible policy toward Belarus or maintains its hardline position.
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