The European Parliament has recognized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as an “accomplice” to Russia’s military aggression and war crimes in Ukraine, according to a resolution adopted on Wednesday.
The resolution condemns Minsk’s involvement in Russia’s “unjustified, illegal, and unprovoked war against Ukraine.”
This involvement includes stationing and training Russian troops in Belarus, which Moscow used as a staging ground for its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“By enabling Russia’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, the Lukashenko regime has become an accomplice in the crimes committed by Russia, which implies responsibility for the destruction and damage caused to Ukraine,” the resolution reads.
Lukashenko is also accused of being complicit in the illegal transfer of more than 2,000 Ukrainian children, including orphans, from Ukraine to so-called recreational camps in Belarus.
In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
According to the European Parliament’s resolution, the children are subject to “Russification and indoctrination,” thus making the Belarusian leader responsible for potential “crimes against humanity” along with Putin and Lvova-Belova.
The European Parliament “calls on the ICC to consider issuing a similar international warrant for Lukashenko’s arrest,” while also insisting that the EU apply the same sanctions against Belarus as it currently has against Russia.
Lukashenko is scheduled to meet with Putin on Friday, when the leaders will discuss regional issues and economic cooperation.