Following today's adoption by the plenary of a resolution on the situation in Burundi and bearing in mind the dangerous escalation of violence in this country, Gianni Pittella, president of the S&D Group in the European Parliament said:
"The situation in Burundi is unsustainable. The EU and the whole international community have to react to the violation of fundamental human rights and to the seeds of war that are being sown.
"On behalf of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, I call on to the government to stop the violence against civil society and I warn that armed groups risk spawning violence in the whole region. Burundi authorities must restore peace and security in the country.
"I also want to point out the irony of the fact that Burundi was elected as member of the UN Human Rights Council on 28 October. Political processes must be respected and legality restored in line with the country's Constitution. There is no alternative.
S&D MEP Maria Arena said:
"We strongly condemn the escalation of violence which is responsible for more than 90 deaths in the last few days. The current situation is more than alarming and the Burundian authorities must be held accountable for this dangerous and negative development.
"We express our deepest concern regarding the grave security and political situation in Burundi and our indignation in respect of the authorities' arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions and the forced displacement of more than 250,000 people.
"We strongly condemn president Nkurunziza's violation of the Arusha Agreement in being sworn in for a third presidential term. From the beginning of the electoral process in the country, we expressed serious concerns about the persistence of president Pierre Nkurunziza in seeking a third presidential mandate, and in so doing contravening the Constitution. In reaction to the anti-democratic attitude of president Nkurunzina, we asked for targeted sanctions and we are still waiting for concrete measures in this direction.
"We ask Burundian authorities to fully respect the Constitution of the country as well as human rights, civil and political rights and fundamental freedoms for all citizens. We ask Burundi's authorities to put an end to public statements inciting violence and hatred towards different groups in Burundian society.
"Our first priority is to protect all Burundian citizens and for that we are supporting the request to send a Security Council peace-keeping force to Burundi; we call on France and Great Britain who are permanent members of the Security Council to defend this request. The second priority is to cut off the resources of the current Burundian government and redirect the aid towards Burundian civil society and international organizations still present in Burundi, in order to help and not abandon the citizens. The third priority is to shed light on those responsible for the atrocities and violence. These crimes must not be unpunished; that is why we ask for an independent investigation."
