Belarus opposition calls for Brussels to protect stateless exiles

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Today, my Brussels colleague reports on a push to help hundreds of thousands of potentially stateless Belarusians inside the EU, and our Rome reporter sends a dispatch on Italy’s fight against the Mafia.

Papiere, bitte

Belarus’ opposition is pushing EU member states to recognise “New Belarus” passports, as hundreds of thousands of migrants risk losing their legal status because of a law passed by President Alexander Lukashenko, writes Daria Mosolova.

Context: As part of measures restricting emigration and in order to punish those who have left Belarus, Lukashenko ruled in September that citizens needed to return home to renew their passports. This left many with the hard choice of either risking arrest or losing access to essential services in their countries of residence.

“This is not only a problem for Belarusians, but also for the member states,” said Valery Kavaleuski, representative for foreign affairs in the cabinet-in-exile of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. “Suddenly, [the EU] will have a huge number of people who don’t have documents.”

EU countries have granted more than 500,000 residence permits to Belarusians over the past four years, many of whom escaped persecution after the Minsk government quashed anti-regime protests that erupted during the 2020 presidential election. The EU does not recognise the result of the vote.

Member states have now been presented with a possible solution by Tsikhanouskaya who, from her exile in Lithuania, hopes to launch an independent passport for Belarusian citizens. It would be issued without official state involvement.

Tsikhanouskaya’s cabinet has already designed the document with a specialist company in Lithuania, and ordered enough material to print about 25,000 passports.

Member states will have to decide individually whether to recognise the passports, because “the recognition of travel documents is a member-state competence,” the European Commission said.

“The governments are not super eager to see this go forward,” noted Kavaleuski. “They realise that there is a problem […] but the solution is a little bit too loaded for them, and some are afraid it could open a Pandora’s box”.

Tsikhanouskaya — whose husband Syarhei is serving an 18-year jail term on charges of organising mass unrest — has urged exiled citizens not to return home if they risk persecution.

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Infiltration

The mayor of a city south of Rome and 22 other people were arrested yesterday as part of an investigation into a mafia organisation suspected of controlling large parts of the city’s life, writes Giuliana Ricozzi.

Context: Italy has for decades been struggling to counteract organised crime infiltrating politics, the economy and public infrastructure such as the government health system. Since 1991, 387 city governments have been dissolved because of mafia infiltration, according to the interior ministry.

The investigation in Aprilia, home to 70,000 people, started in 2018. Some of the suspects are accused of being part of a mafia organisation involved in extortion, drug trafficking and crimes against the public administration, investigators said.

The group allegedly tried to take control of economic activities and public contracts, as well as influence citizens’ participation in local elections. They also purportedly targeted business owners and entrepreneurs, raising money through intimidation and usury.

Aprilia’s mayor Lanfranco Principi, who was elected in 2023 and was backed by a centre-right coalition, was also arrested. According to the anti-mafia investigation division in Rome, he is suspected of garnering votes with the help of the local mafia association, in exchange for favours, during an election in 2018.

Principi could not immediately be reached for comment.

The right-wing parties backing the mayor — including the governing Brothers of Italy and Lega — expressed in a statement their “complete trust” in him. “We are certain that in the coming days he will have the opportunity to defend himself, to demonstrate his moral integrity and, above all, that he is innocent of the charges against him,” the parties said. 

The operation in Aprilia is only the latest effort to tackle the Mafia’s still-persistent grip on Italian cities.

Earlier this year, police arrested more than 100 people in Bari, including two politicians, over attempts to influence elections. And in June, authorities uncovered evidence that criminals linked to the Neapolitan-focused Camorra group had allegedly used a public hospital in Naples as a base for drug-trafficking.

What to watch today

1. Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini meets Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

2. UK holds general election.

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