The committee made a few hundred corrections to the initial version of the resolution.
"Corrections were made to the initial text of the recommendation about improvements in the area. It says that the decrease of politically motivated detentions in 2012 by a factor of three, as compared with 2011, as reported by a prominent human rights center Vesna, could be explained by the atmosphere of repressions and intimidation in the country," Paleckis' office said.
The initial version of the document, which, among other things, said that "2012 featured aspects of improvements in the human rights situation" drew a negative reaction from the Belarusian opposition and some EP colleagues.
In the approved recommendation, MEPs say that the Lithuanian presidency over the EU Council and the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius should be used as yet another crucial opportunity for improving the EU-Belarusian ties.
MEPs said that the human rights situation in Belarus remains complex, calling upon EU nations and institutions to search for ways of encouraging Minsk to take democratic reforms and stop constraining independent media.
They also said the EU should continue the support to the civil society in Belarus, the modernization dialogue and free media, as well as cut Schengen visa prices for Belarusian citizens.
The EP should consider the recommendation in plenary in September.
