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“As of today, the Belarusians are introducing a sanctions counter in the chain of visa sanctions adopted by the EU. According to current civilized diplomatic practice, we will not publish it,” the report said.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry added that “the common list of excluded persons is also valid for integration associations that include Belarus.”
The ministry said that in a decision taken on October 1, the European Council “distanced itself from its neighbor Belarus.”
“Sanctions have been imposed as a punitive measure, mainly for Belarus’ failure to comply with a series of ultimatums that no self-respecting sovereign state would have complied with. First, they are members of the EU,
Belarus fears that the sanctions will also affect citizens and other areas of cooperation.
“The officials who make these decisions in the EU are well aware that this is a utopia: any attack of this type affects people, their security, their well-being and their economy. Therefore, it is not necessary to be hypocritical. Cynical and ruthless decisions that give the image of a European bureaucracy that is a deterrent and a cause for concern within the EU and in many external partners. This also makes Brexit even more understandable, “said the Foreign Ministry. from Belarus.
“Belarus is always in word and deed, before the confrontation. We are in favor of dialogue and understanding. But as a sovereign state, we will also respond resolutely, though not without regret, to hostile actions to naturally defend our national interests,” the statement said. .
Project withdrawal
The Belarusian ministry has not ruled out the possibility that the country will withdraw from joint programs and projects if the EU “sanctions flyer” continues to spin.
“A further rotation of the EU ‘sanctions flyer’ could have even more serious consequences, such as the withdrawal of Belarus from joint programs and projects, a review of the level and modality of diplomatic representation until a decision is made on the maintenance of convenience in diplomatic relations, “the ministry said.
He called on the EU not to promise Belarusians a “golden mountain in the next life” and to redouble its efforts here and now to tackle common challenges such as illegal migration, international crime and terrorism, the infectious disease pandemic and its socioeconomic consequences.
“We call on the European Union to open its borders to all Belarusians instead of building new visa fences, not just their” separate “ones, declares the Foreign Ministry.
“The EU threatens to reconsider its relations with Belarus. It will be their choice. For their part, the Belarusians are also willing to reconsider their relations in a similar way and will continue to respond appropriately to any hostile action,” the statement emphasized.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry also predicts that attempts to “impose externally approved representatives on Belarusians, projects of some kind of” government in exile “” will fail.
“The fate of such structures is sad: before they start, they are on the fringes of the historical process,” the ministry said.
The EU has agreed sanctions
EU leaders, after overcoming Cypriot objections, agreed on Friday to impose sanctions on Belarus over the political crisis.
This decision paves the way for the issuance of travel bans and assets freezes to some 40 members of the Alexander Lukashenko regime, responsible for the manipulation of the presidential elections and the repression of protesters.
The EU countries had already decided in principle to impose sanctions on the Minsk regime, but were blocked by Cyprus, which called for similar measures against Turkey, with which the country disagrees on the exploration of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean.
In a statement at the summit that was drawn up after more than six hours of discussion, the leaders of the 27 countries warned Ankara that sanctions could be announced “immediately” if it continued to explore gas in Cypriot waters.
That statement was enough for Cyprus to lift its veto on individual sanctions for the protracted crisis in Belarus.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, confirmed that Mr Lukashenko himself was not on the sanctions list.
“No, Lukashenko is not on the current list, but of course we will follow the situation and events,” Michel said after a meeting with EU leaders.
The authoritarian president is on previously announced sanctions lists for Minsk in the UK and Canada.
For almost 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.
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