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Cyprus withdrew its veto on planned punitive measures at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday night. According to the President of the Council, Charles Michel, they should come into force immediately.
On Friday they continued the meeting with a debate on economic reforms. The financial dispute and rule of law conflict could further overshadow the discussions.
With the sanctions, the EU wants to put additional pressure on the leadership in Belarus and send a signal of solidarity with the people of the country. Since the presidential elections on August 9, there have been protests and strikes in the former Soviet republic against the authoritarian head of state Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years.
Under the current state of planning, the EU sanctions are intended to affect 40 people accused of participating in electoral fraud or the violent suppression of peaceful protests. Lukashenko himself should not initially be among them. The reason is that this could hamper diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict and deprive the EU of the opportunity to re-adjust its course.
The sanctions plans were recently blocked because Cyprus had linked their approval to the fact that the European Union would also impose new sanctions on Turkey. Cyprus and Greece have long urged the EU to react more harshly to Turkish gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean that they deem illegal. However, other states believe this could hamper ongoing mediation efforts. They want to wait and see before passing new sanctions on Turkey.
The summit now agreed that the EU will maintain its threats of sanctions against Turkey. In the case of new unilateral measures by Ankara, all possible instruments and options should be used, as the conclusions show. At the same time, the EU promises Turkey, among other things, that it will continue to work to expand the customs union if the situation calms down in the long term.
With this formula, the EU states are reacting to the fact that although recently there have been several signs of detente in the conflict between Turkey and Greece, not in the dispute between Turkey and Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus have long called for increased support from EU partners due to gas exploration in Turkey. Out of anger over the EU’s reluctance to implement new sanctions, Cyprus has so far blocked planned EU sanctions against high-ranking supporters of Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko. Only the clear attachment to the threats of sanctions moved the country to give in at the summit.
After the agreement, a written procedure for the formal decision must follow immediately, Michel told a press conference after the first day of the special EU summit. That is a clear sign of the credibility of the EU. The head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, added that she was glad that the path for sanctions was finally clear.
Briefly satisfied with the threat of sanctions
Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (Vice President) was equally pleased that there were “clear threats of sanctions targeting Turkey for the first time” if they “continue to violate international law.” This is an “important sign of solidarity with Greece and Cyprus”, but it is also necessary to show Turkey that the EU is ready to react decisively if Turkey does not change its behavior, Kurz said.
