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“Rest assured that these initiatives, if taken by our European partners, will not go unanswered. The reaction will definitely be appropriate and will have a very noticeable impact on our European partners,” said V. Makejus.
He is quoted by the state news agency BelTA.
“It seems to us that we have tried to respond adequately to the challenges that Belarus has faced and is facing,” the minister said.
According to him, Belarus has never been interested in a sanctions policy.
“We have always said that sanctions are not a way to make international relations a reality,” McKay said. – But if those who initiate such things want to follow this path, then, of course, we will be forced to react. And today, the meeting discussed (and widely supported) the full range of measures that Belarus can take if our partners decide to toughen these sanctions, moving from individual to economic sanctions, as requested by some opponents of the Belarusian government. “
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE / RL) said on the eve that the EU could support new sanctions against Belarus on Thursday.
However, a diplomatic source told the Interfax news agency that the conference would not be a formal meeting of the EU Council, so ministers would not be able to make a legally binding decision.
“The ministers can raise any question during the discussion. It is possible that the ministers reach a political agreement on the adoption of such a package,” said the source, but stressed that the issue of sanctions is not even on the meeting’s agenda. .
Earlier, Brussels called the killing in Minsk of activist Raman Bandarenko, tortured by members of the security forces in plain clothes, as an “inhuman and shameful result of the actions of Belarusian officials.”
Brussels recalled that the Community was already imposing sanctions on 55 Belarusian officials whom it considered responsible for persecuting their fellow citizens. The EU also threatened to impose additional punitive measures on Minsk if the crackdown continued.
At the time, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Cichanouskaya said on Monday that the list of Belarusian regime officials subject to EU sanctions should be extended to more than 200 names.
Belarus has faced massive protests for the fourth month in a row over the August 9 presidential election, which has been declared the winner by Aliaksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and Western democracies consider these elections rigged.
EU: Foreign ministers may discuss new measures for Belarus on Thursday
EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Belarus in an informal video conference on Thursday and may consider further sanctions, said Peter Stano, a spokesman for EU chief of diplomacy Joseph Borrell.
“It is possible if there is a consensus of all the member states of the European Union. I do not want to anticipate the outcome or content of the ministerial discussions. We have to await the discussions, the assessments of the EU member states on the situation in Belarus, as well as the proposals, “Stano said at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
It was asked how far the EU was willing to go in its sanctions policy against Belarus and whether economic sanctions would be imposed. The Community is already imposing sanctions on 55 Belarusian officials responsible for the persecution of fellow citizens. Among them is President Alexander Lukashenko.
Stano replied that Thursday’s debate “is also about possible proposals, and not always about previously prepared proposals: new creative tools can be discussed if there is a consensus.”
“We have to wait for the ministerial discussions. As I said, anything is possible if there is a consensus among the 27 EU member states,” he added.
According to Stan, the EU’s position on Belarus is quite clear.
“We do not recognize the legitimacy of Mr. Lukashenko as head of state. The EU-Belarus dialogue has long been broken at the official level in response to illegal actions of the state,
A representative of the EU Head of Diplomacy stated that the Community had limited contacts with Belarus at the expert level.
Restoring previous cooperation under the Eastern Partnership program requires the Belarusian government to end the crackdown on the country’s population and respond to their demands, he said.
“Dialogue [su Baltarusija] also reviewed and downgraded to the expert level, “Stano said.
He added that the EU intends to continue supporting Belarusians and civil society organizations.
“In two days, the foreign ministers will discuss it [per vaizdo konferenciją], including a possible extension of the penal measures, “said Borrell’s spokesman.
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