Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted a human rights resolution on Belarus, calling for freezing and confiscating the assets and properties owned by President Aleksandr Lukashenko and his inner circle abroad, in order to reallocate them to support victims of repression.

On Thursday, MEPs call for the immediate end to "the political repression" of Lukashenko’s regime, the surveillance of demonstrators, and the release of political prisoners. They condemn how Belarusians abroad are also increasingly the target of "repression by the regime", and call for EU-wide legal support for exiled individuals.

Lukashenko marked three decades in power last year and his political opponents denounced the tightly orchestrated presidential election on 26 January 2025 as a farce.

During the inauguration ceremony, Lukashenko poked fun at those who call him 'Europe's last dictator' by claiming Belarus has more democracy "than those who cast themselves as its models."

"Half of the world is dreaming about our 'dictatorship,' the dictatorship of real business and interests of our people," Lukashenko said in his inauguration speech at the Independence Palace.

Meantime, European Parliament reiterated that it did not recognise Lukashenko as the country’s leader and considered the persecution of Belarusian citizens abroad to be a direct violation of member states’ territorial sovereignty. 

MEPs urged the immediate imposition of personal sanctions on officials responsible for transnational persecution and intimidation, including members of the Belarusian Investigative Committee. 

They also called for increased support for Belarusian independent media, human rights defenders, and civil society initiatives.

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