Governance and citizenship

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) joins this year’s campaign on #DemocracyUnderPressure in Belarus initiated by the Young European Federalists (JEF). During last year’s campaign, many European cities lit up their town halls in white-red-white, the colours of the flag of free Belarus. The following statement has been adopted by CEMR.

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We support the Belarusian people’s wishes for a peaceful democratic transition in the country at all levels – including making local governance systems more democratic. This process follows the Presidential elections of August 2020, which were neither free nor fair.
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CEMR recalls last year’s statement and urges the EU institutions and national governments to strengthen assistance to Belarusian civil society, including to organisations promoting local democracy and municipal autonomy, which are a genuine training ground for democratic citizenship and the rule of law.

We express our solidarity towards border cities and regions in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and we welcome the European Commission’s proposition on the temporary legal and practical measures to address the emergency situation at the EU’s external border with Belarus.

We ask our members, like last year, to illuminate their public buildings in the colour of the Belarusian flag on 25 March unofficial day of freedom in Belarus, celebrated annually by the democratic opposition.