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After more than six weeks of diplomatic efforts at a summit in Brussels, EU leaders finally persuaded Cyprus not to block sanctions against 40 officials of the regime of President Aliaksandr Lukashenko of Belarus.
Restrictive measures on travel insurance and assets freezes will be applied to officials who the European Union considers to have contributed to the falsification of the results of the presidential elections of August 9 and the brutal repression of protesters by the forces of security after rigged elections.
Lukashenko’s name is not on the sanctions list, but it includes Interior Minister Yuri Karajev, who said the EU is responsible for a “campaign of repression and intimidation,” and the president of the Central Election Commission, Lidzia Yarmoshyna. .
The EU accuses Jarmošynas of “falsifying the election results”. Western countries do not recognize the results of these elections and consider them illegal.
Scanpix / AP photo / Voting in the presidential elections in Belarus
Minsk soon announced the introduction of retaliatory sanctions in the EU, although it is not yet clear what form they will take and to whom they will apply.
“Belarus is imposing retaliatory sanctions on the issue of visa sanctions imposed by the EU on a chain of Belarusian officials,” the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, by announcing sanctions, the EU “rejected” the state, which the West calls “the last European dictatorship”, ruled by the Lukashenko regime.
Minsk said it would not reveal which European officials would be sanctioned, but threatened that expanding the sanctions list could have “even more serious consequences” for Europe.
“Expression of weakness”
After the elections, in which Lukashenko got his 80th term in the sixth term. votes, the protests have not stopped throughout Belarus so far.
Riot police detained thousands of protesters, many of whom were tortured and humiliated in custody. The international community has condemned the actions of the Belarusian force structures.
At the time, Russia, which had supported its former ally Lukashenko in the crisis, promised financial support and made it clear that it was willing to provide military assistance if necessary.
The Kremlin has condemned the EU sanctions issued after other Western governments took similar action, including Britain and Canada.
“In general, we are very, very negative about the sanctions policy … it is more an expression of weakness than strength,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
„Scanpix“ / ITAR-TASS nuotr./Dmitrijus Peskovas
EU countries threatened to impose sanctions on the Minsk regime in August, but were blocked by Cyprus, which called for similar measures against Turkey, with which the country disagrees on natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
The breakthrough came after seven hours of talks early Friday, when the leaders of the 27 states finally agreed to make a formal statement that Ankara could be sanctioned “immediately” if it continues to explore for gas in Cypriot waters.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the sanctions sent a “strong message of support” to pro-democracy activists in Belarus.
“We hope that these sanctions will encourage Belarusian leaders to refrain from acts of violence in the future, release all those illegally detained and enter into a sincere and full dialogue with the opposition,” Borrell said.
Lukashenko is not included
Most strikingly, Lukashenko is not on the list of officials subject to sanctions.
Unlike Britain and Canada, which announced restrictive measures to the Belarusian leader, the EU decided not to mention him on the list, hoping to persuade Lukashenko to start talks with the opposition to end the crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlan Cichanouskaya on Tuesday.
S.Cichanouskaya, who claims to have won the August 9 elections, was forced to withdraw from Belarus to Lithuania, where he seeks to maintain international pressure on the Minsk regime, without protests in the streets of the country.
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