Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) independently, and (2) with the governments of other European nations, to provide political and financial support to opposition parties and individuals in Belarus.

The UK has stated it does not accept the results of the fraudulent Presidential election and has condemned the excessive violence used to suppress the subsequent peaceful protests. We have urged the Belarusian authorities to engage in a constructive dialogue with political opposition and civil society. We intend to double our support for independent media, human rights organisations and community groups in Belarus - with an extra £1.5 million for projects over the next two years.

We will keep working with our international partners to support and strengthen democracy and human rights in Belarus. We are calling for an independent investigation through the OSCE into the electoral process and the repression which has followed. The UK is also working with international partners to sanction those responsible, and to hold the Belarusian authorities to account.