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“I called the EU High Representative Joseph Borell yesterday. He told us that the EU plans to adopt the fourth package of sanctions and is preparing for the fifth package in July,” S. Cichanouskaya said in a public address in Vilnius on Tuesday.
He also thanked the EU states for their strong reaction to the crash landing of an airliner by the Minsk regime and the arrest of opposition blogger Raman Pratasevičius and his friend.
Cichanouskaya noted that air campaigns “one after another” canceled flights through Belarusian airspace, and EU countries announced the closure of their airspace to the Belarusian state airline Belavia.
However, he says that simply refraining from flying over Belarus is not enough.
“Let me emphasize: abstaining from flights over Belarus does not solve the real problems. The problem is that the terrorist regime, which rigged the elections last year, constantly violates the Constitution and international law. Lukashenko’s regime is a threat to security. European and regional. The only solution to this crisis is the holding of free and fair elections and democratic reforms. But now we must stop the violence and ignore the law. We are calling for sanctions against the regime, against its businesses, “said Cichanouskaya in a public address on Tuesday.
He also pointed out that two days after the kidnapping of R. Pratasevičius and his friend, the lawyer is unable to meet with R. Pratasevičius. Cichanouskaya had no doubt that the opposition blogger was being tortured and that his “confession” of cooperation had been obtained by force.
“We have already seen a video of the imprisoned Raman. He said he was being treated legally, but obviously he was beaten and pressured,” he said.
Cichanouskaya also says that he has discussed the situation with Polish and French foreign ministers and US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser. He said he had asked representatives of Poland and the United States to investigate the hijacking of the plane and to support the suspension of Belarus’ membership in the International Civil Aviation Association and Interpol.
He said he highlighted that the death of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak, as well as the aforementioned hijacking of a Ryanair plane and the closure of the most popular opposition news portal, tut.by, were “the result of impunity and the lack of response of the regime “. .
“Therefore, you have to understand the response, including the sanctions and the political isolation of the regime,” stressed the leader of the Belarusian opposition.
He noted that a group of activists, including Pavel Severinec, a Belarusian Christian Democrat, had been sentenced to 4-7 years in prison this morning, saying “it was time to act.”
Belarusian authoritarian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko sparked international outrage on Sunday by ordering the lifting of a fighter jet and the landing of an ocean liner on the Irish Ryanair, which was flying from Athens to Vilnius, which contained 26-year-old journalist R. Pratasevičius and her friend Sofia Sapega. , wanted by the Minsk regime. Both were detained and the plane was able to fly to Vilnius in a few hours without these and several other passengers.
Western leaders blame the Minsk regime for hijacking a European plane and call it “state terrorism.” Minsk justifies reacting to a report that a bomb was hidden on the plane.
