Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the debate on Addressing the specific challenges faced by the Belarussians in exile at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 20 June 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK stands in solidarity with the Belarusian people, who have shown immense courage in the face of relentless repression by the Lukashenko regime. We are clear that this regime neither speaks nor acts in the name of the overwhelming majority of Belarusians, and we continue to work with likeminded partners to put pressure on the regime publicly and privately for their human rights violations. We also take very seriously our responsibilities to Belarusian nationals in the UK, and the Security Minister's Defending Democracy Taskforce is driving forward work in response to threats of foreign interference, including transnational repression.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of plans to base nuclear warheads in Belarus.
Answered by James Heappey
The announcement by President Putin on his intent to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is the latest in a long pattern of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric. It is designed to distract and deter us from supporting Ukraine. It will not. We, with our NATO Allies, continue to closely monitor the situation and call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their response to Lord Blencathra’s report on electoral reform in Belarus, adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 21 April 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations since the 2020 elections. We will continue to put pressure on Lukashenko's regime publicly and privately to offer Belarusians the free and democratic society they deserve. The UK values the work of the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe as well as our UK delegation, in producing reports which promote these issues. We welcomed the adoption of these reports at the Committee of Minsters.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their response to Lord Blencathra’s report for the Council of Europe on the observation of the parliamentary elections held in Belarus on 17 November 2019.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations since the 2020 elections. We will continue to put pressure on Lukashenko's regime publicly and privately to offer Belarusians the free and democratic society they deserve. The UK values the work of the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe as well as our UK delegation, in producing reports which promote these issues. We welcomed the adoption of these reports at the Committee of Minsters.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of new sanctions against the government of Belarus, what assessment they have made of the impact of previous sanctions against the government of Belarus, particularly in relation to the treatment of Belarusian political prisoners.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK introduced comprehensive sanctions in response to Belarus' flawed 2020 presidential elections and subsequent brutal crackdown, sanctioning over 120 individuals and entities. These include Lukashenko, security officials, judges and prosecutors. Belarus must be held accountable for both human rights violations, including treatment of political prisoners, against its own people and their support of Putin's illegal war. Since 2022, the Belarusian regime has facilitated Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the UK introduced sanctions in June 2022 and June 2023 in response which severely limited Belarus's ability to trade with the UK. We keep our sanctions under review, and reserve the right to introduce further measures.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to raise the issue of human rights abuses against political prisoners in Belarus in international forums; and if so, which forums.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations, and are supporting further accountability measures including the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. The UK makes our solidarity with political prisoners clear, when possible attending trials and engaging with their families. We have raised political prisoners at the UN and OSCE and will continue to take every opportunity, both publicly and privately, to urge the Belarusian regime to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and protect the human rights of its citizens.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to take any further action against the worsening situation for political prisoners in Belarus; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations, and are supporting further accountability measures including the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. The UK makes our solidarity with political prisoners clear, when possible attending trials and engaging with their families. We have raised political prisoners at the UN and OSCE and will continue to take every opportunity, both publicly and privately, to urge the Belarusian regime to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and protect the human rights of its citizens.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of allegations that Cuban nationals are undertaking military training in Belarus with the consent of the Cuban government on the UK's bilateral relations with Cuba.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to monitor reports of the discussion of potential military co-operation between Belarus and Cuba, following comments made by the Belarus Deputy Defence Minister. The UK has a long standing policy of engagement with Cuba. Our relationship allows us to collaborate positively in areas of mutual interest and to talk frankly on matters where our views and interests differ.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for the Government's policies on Russia of granting visas to (a) Russian and (b) Belarussian athletes to compete at (i) Queen's Club, (ii) Wimbledon and (iii) other sporting events.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government stands in solidarity with Ukraine. We condemn the Russian Government's unprovoked and barbaric attack against Ukraine and the Belarusian state's support for Russia's actions. Our argument is not with the Russian or Belarusian people, but with their governments. As such, individual, self-funded Russian and Belarusian athletes not representing their states can compete in the UK, subject to following Government neutrality guidance. The Government expects sports governing bodies and organisers to require Russian and Belarusian athletes to sign a neutrality statement before issuing a formal invitation to participate.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to coordinate sanctions on Russian-origin (a) diamonds, (b) copper, (c) aluminium and (d) nickel exports with (i) the EU and (ii) other allies.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2022 the UK increased import duties by an additional 35 percentage points on a variety of precious and semiprecious stones and metals from Russia and Belarus including rough and polished diamonds. We also designated the Russian state-owned company Alrosa.
Our announcement at the G7 in May goes further and we will legislate later this year to end imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel. As with all our Sanctions measures, we continue to work closely with our G7 partners to further align and coordinate their implementation and enforcement.