[ad_1]
BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (March 22) approved sanctions for abuses in China, Myanmar and Russia, as the bloc expands measures targeting global rights violations.
The 27 nations must blacklist four Chinese officials and one state entity over Beijing’s crackdown on the Uighur minority after ambassadors gave the go-ahead last week.
The highly symbolic move, reported by EU diplomats and expected to be formally unveiled in the EU official gazette later Monday, is the first time that Brussels has hit Beijing for human rights abuses since it imposed an arms embargo in 1989 after Tiananmen Square.
The measures are part of a package of human rights sanctions against a dozen people that also includes people in Russia, North Korea, Eritrea, South Sudan and Libya, diplomats said.
LEE: The US and China collide at the UN meeting on the fight against racism
“This is a very important step that shows how committed we are,” Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said.
The mechanism, designed to make it easier for the bloc to target rights abusers, was launched this month with sanctions on four Russian officials for the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Diplomats said the new sanctions against Russia will target those responsible for abuses in the Chechnya region of the country, which is ruled with an iron fist by Kremlin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov.
The EU will also impose an asset freeze and visa ban on 11 Myanmar junta officials over last month’s military coup and crackdown on protesters.
“What we see there in terms of excesses of violence is absolutely unacceptable,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
“That is why we will not be able to avoid imposing sanctions.”
READ: Western countries ask Russia in the UN rights body to release Navalny
Myanmar has been in crisis since the army toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, sparking a massive uprising that security forces have tried to crush with a campaign of violence and fear.
Diplomats have said that companies linked to the military will likely be sanctioned in the coming weeks.
CHINA RESPONDS
In retaliation against the EU’s approval of sanctions over Beijing’s crackdown on the Uighur minority, China later announced sanctions on 10 Europeans, including parliamentarians and academics, as well as four entities on Monday.
“This measure, based solely on lies and misinformation, ignores and distorts the facts,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was a major interference in its internal affairs.
TURKEY TIE
Turkey will feature prominently at the meeting as EU member states discuss efforts to improve ties after a surge in tensions last year in the eastern Mediterranean.
Brussels has welcomed the steps taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reduce tensions by restarting talks with Greece on its disputed maritime border.
But big concerns remain, including over domestic freedoms after moves to ban a key opposition party and Erdogan’s decision to abandon a global treaty to prevent violence against women.
READ: US and Europe pressure Turkey to reconsider ditching violence against women pact
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell produced a report outlining the bloc’s options to be discussed by leaders in a video conference this week.
Warmer ties have seen efforts to impose sanctions agreed in December on Turkish drilling in Cyprus on the back burner for fear of derailing rapprochement.
“There are different signals from Turkey,” Maas said.
“We will continue to try to stay in the dialogue, but also to use this dialogue to address the issues where we believe Turkey is sending the wrong signals.”
