According to Lars Bünger, this time he had planned to take part in a special journey organized by the German-Belarusian IBB Minsk/Dortmund dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. “The aim of the journey was a joint Belarusian-German remembrance and reconciliation. But obviously German human rights defenders are not the kind of person the Belarusian authorities want to welcome for such an event. That shows quite clearly that a dictatorial regime like the Belarusian one is not an appropriate partner for Germany and Europe to build up a common European house based on joint values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It’s impossible to come to a true reconciliation between Germany and Belarus as long as a criminal dictatorship rules the country,” says the human rights defender.
However, these obstacles by the Belarusian authorities do not discourage him from working for the benefit of human rights in Belarus. “Looking back to the German war of extermination in Belarus I feel a historical responsibility to not look away if injustice is taking place in Belarus. Everyone who is a real friend of Belarus has to support the persecuted ones, especially the political prisoners. The lesson I have learned from the darkest part of German history is, that we should never accept that people are suppressed by dictatorial regimes. That’s why some years ago we with Libereco started to speak out against human rights violations in Belarus.”
Moreover Lars Bünger notes that the fourth refusal of a visa does not cause him a big surprise: “Everyone who knows the nature of Lukashenka’s regime should know that human rights and democracy are not welcomed by the Belarusian authorities.”
However, Libereco president expresses the hope that the German government and the EU will not invite Lukashenka and his supporters at such events as the EU summit in Riga, as long as “international human rights defenders and democrats are banned to visit Belarus and as long as there is a single political prisoner behind bars in Belarus”.
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