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The EU already imposes travel bans on 40 of Lukashenko’s allies, responsible for falsifying the results of the August elections, which restored power, and for the violent crackdown on the mass protests that have rocked the country since the elections. , and have frozen their assets.
So far, the Community has not targeted Lukashenko himself, hoping to persuade him to enter into a dialogue with the opposition forces to resolve the crisis.
However, on Sunday, the Belarusian militia in Minsk again used water cannons and deafening grenades, arrested hundreds of people and EU ministers gave political support to imposing sanctions on the authoritarian Lukashenko.
In their official conclusions on Belarus, the ministers state that the list of persons and entities subject to sanctions will be “kept under review.”
“The EU stands ready to take further restrictive measures, including against high-ranking entities and officials, including Mr Lukashenko,” the ministers said.
Earlier Monday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on the EU to impose sanctions on Lukashenko, saying renewed violence against protesters in Minsk cannot be ignored.
Arriving in Luxembourg to speak with his 26 counterparts from other EU countries, Maas said it was time to expand the sanctions list to include Lukashenko.
“Violence in the Lukashenko regime continues, peaceful protesters continue to be arrested, so we must consider how to proceed,” said Maas, whose country holds the EU presidency this semester.
For more than two months there have been unprecedented protests in Belarus over the presidential elections on August 9, which Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western countries consider these elections to be rigged.
A ministerial statement on Monday condemned the militant violence against protesters and called on officials to work for a peaceful dialogue with the opposition to end the crisis by supporting calls for new elections.
The conspiracy of Novičiokas
EU foreign ministers also agreed in principle on Monday to support a joint Franco-German proposal to impose sanctions on Russian officials for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navaln, diplomats told AFP.
Three sources said the 27 ministers meeting in Luxembourg had reached a political agreement to start work on measures based on proposals made by Germany and France last week. Both sides said Moscow was responsible for the poisoning of Navaln, one of Novičiok’s nerve paralyzing substances created in the Soviet Union, and said “Russia has not provided any convincing explanation.
Germany and France have said they will impose sanctions on “those responsible for this crime and violations of international standards on the basis of their official functions, as well as an entity involved in the Novičioko program.”
Ministers on Monday expanded the EU sanctions plan on chemical weapons, which blacklisted four Russians accused of being involved in Novičiok, England, in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal.
Any Navaln-related sanctions would be imposed under this scheme, which is also used against Syrian officials, for chemical weapons attacks against regime opponents in the civil war.
The United Nations Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had previously confirmed the conclusion of Germany, Sweden and France that A. Navaln had been poisoned with a substance that paralyzes the Novičiok group’s nerves.
Navaln’s family and colleagues claim that the Russian government is involved in his poisoning. Moscow denies it.
Monday’s ministerial meeting will assess the EU-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo, as well as the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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