The persecution of opposition and civil society continues in Belarus, and EU member states should rise above national interests to sever the channels the Lukashenko regime uses to finance itself, writes MEP Werner Schulz.

Commenting on the outcome of today's council of EU foreign ministers and their conclusions on Belarus, Green foreign affairs spokesperson Werner Schulz said: "The failure by EU foreign ministers to expand sanctions in Belarus is a source of regret. Targeted sanctions against individual firms and individuals behind the regime are the only way for the EU to maintain pressure against Lukashenko.

In response to yesterday’s regional elections in Russia, Werner Schulz, Vice-Chair of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC), makes the following statement: The first elections after Putin’s return as president have once again demonstrated the unscrupulousness with which the Russian government is adhering to managed democracy and overt electoral fraud despite the protests of this past winter. Pre-stuffed ballot boxes, carousel voting, falsified documents and the use of violence against election observers reveal that the entire election-falsification kit is in use. As was the case for the Duma elections in December 2011, candidates loyal to the government were assured of an uncontested victory.

Pussy Riot, whose three female musicians were sentenced to two years in prison after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral, are among the three candidates shortlisted for the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.