Sham elections in Belarus

On 25 February, Belarus held another round of sham parliamentary and local elections amid ongoing repression and worsening human rights abuses, the President said. This house will never turn a blind eye on Lukashenka’s relentless crackdown on dissent and on people being arrested, tortured and imprisoned on politically motivated charges, she added. To demonstrate Parliament’s support for more than 1500 political prisoners in Belarus, President Metsola invited all MEPs to sign a postcard addressed to them in front of the hemicycle, as part of the day of solidarity with Belarus.

20-year anniversary of terrorist attacks in Madrid

On 11 March 20 years ago today, said the President, coordinated terror attacks targeting commuter trains packed with innocent people devastated Madrid, killing 192 people and injuring nearly two thousand. This was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever seen in Europe; the shock and profound grief in aftermath of ten bombs…