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dpa
Luxembourg
EU foreign ministers have resolved to impose their toughest punitive measures yet on Belarus, a package of economic sanctions targeting sectors that benefit the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, announced the decision following a Monday meeting in Luxembourg, and said he believed they would “put pressure” on Lukashenko. “Certainly, we believe we can influence behaviour.”
Luxembourg’s foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said a total of seven cash cow areas will be hit, including tobacco, potash - a potassium-rich salt used in fertilizer - petroleum products and financial services.
It is the bloc’s latest response to Belarusian authorities ongoing crackdown on pro-democratic forces. Tensions have spiked further since the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight to detain a government critic and his girlfriend last month. The EU already sealed off its airspace to carriers from its eastern neighbour.
“We want the end of violence against protesters and opposition figures and an inclusive dialogue that ultimately leads to free and fair elections,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters.
The new measures - which aim to tighten the vice on the authoritarian government of Lukashenko and strengthen his opponents - must still be formally adopted, but their basic remit is now fixed.
It is unclear exactly when they will be implemented.
The bloc also imposed fresh sanctions on high-ranking officials and key companies on Monday, coordinating a package of measures along with the United States, Canada and Britain.
In total, the EU added 78 individual names to its Belarus blacklist, plus eight institutions or organizations, taking the total to 166 persons and 15 entities.
Among the companies affected - according to the entry published in the official EU legal journal - is state-owned company BelAZ - one of the biggest manufacturers of large trucks and dumper trucks in the world.
The list also includes the company responsible for controlling air traffic over Belarus.
Lukashenko’s son Dmitry, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, other members of the government, and a number of judges are targeted too.
In a separate statement, London said it had sanctioned, together with the other parties, senior-ranking Belarusian officials plus the British-based company BNK, which exports Belarusian oil products.
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has been calling for tough EU measures, also met with the foreign ministers.
“It’s impossible that nothing will change after these sanctions,” she told journalists in Brussels.
Tikhanovskaya currently lives in exile in Lithuania. She is considered by many to be the winner of the disputed presidential election of August 9, 2020, after which Lukashenko had himself proclaimed president again.
The EU no longer recognizes him as head of state and claims the poll was neither nor fair. The underlying aim of EU punitive measures is to try and force fresh elections in Belarus.
“They have to understand that there is no other way out,” Tikhanovskaya said at a Brussels press conference.
Most of the targets added to the EU blacklist on Monday are accused of helping to repress demonstrators, opposition figures or journalists, but others were chosen for a link to the diverted Ryanair flight.
Due to the ongoing repression of the democracy movement in Belarus, the EU already adopted several packages of sanctions targeting Lukashenko’s supporters last year, as well as the president himself.
The 66-year-old Lukashenko has led Belarus - a former Soviet republic in Eastern Europe bordering EU states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - for more than a quarter of a century, tolerating little dissent.
Minsk has grown closer to Moscow in recent years. But Lukashenko has also maintained relations with EU partners in his almost 27 years in power.
Luxembourg
EU foreign ministers have resolved to impose their toughest punitive measures yet on Belarus, a package of economic sanctions targeting sectors that benefit the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, announced the decision following a Monday meeting in Luxembourg, and said he believed they would “put pressure” on Lukashenko. “Certainly, we believe we can influence behaviour.”
Luxembourg’s foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said a total of seven cash cow areas will be hit, including tobacco, potash - a potassium-rich salt used in fertilizer - petroleum products and financial services.
It is the bloc’s latest response to Belarusian authorities ongoing crackdown on pro-democratic forces. Tensions have spiked further since the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight to detain a government critic and his girlfriend last month. The EU already sealed off its airspace to carriers from its eastern neighbour.
“We want the end of violence against protesters and opposition figures and an inclusive dialogue that ultimately leads to free and fair elections,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters.
The new measures - which aim to tighten the vice on the authoritarian government of Lukashenko and strengthen his opponents - must still be formally adopted, but their basic remit is now fixed.
It is unclear exactly when they will be implemented.
The bloc also imposed fresh sanctions on high-ranking officials and key companies on Monday, coordinating a package of measures along with the United States, Canada and Britain.
In total, the EU added 78 individual names to its Belarus blacklist, plus eight institutions or organizations, taking the total to 166 persons and 15 entities.
Among the companies affected - according to the entry published in the official EU legal journal - is state-owned company BelAZ - one of the biggest manufacturers of large trucks and dumper trucks in the world.
The list also includes the company responsible for controlling air traffic over Belarus.
Lukashenko’s son Dmitry, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, other members of the government, and a number of judges are targeted too.
In a separate statement, London said it had sanctioned, together with the other parties, senior-ranking Belarusian officials plus the British-based company BNK, which exports Belarusian oil products.
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has been calling for tough EU measures, also met with the foreign ministers.
“It’s impossible that nothing will change after these sanctions,” she told journalists in Brussels.
Tikhanovskaya currently lives in exile in Lithuania. She is considered by many to be the winner of the disputed presidential election of August 9, 2020, after which Lukashenko had himself proclaimed president again.
The EU no longer recognizes him as head of state and claims the poll was neither nor fair. The underlying aim of EU punitive measures is to try and force fresh elections in Belarus.
“They have to understand that there is no other way out,” Tikhanovskaya said at a Brussels press conference.
Most of the targets added to the EU blacklist on Monday are accused of helping to repress demonstrators, opposition figures or journalists, but others were chosen for a link to the diverted Ryanair flight.
Due to the ongoing repression of the democracy movement in Belarus, the EU already adopted several packages of sanctions targeting Lukashenko’s supporters last year, as well as the president himself.
The 66-year-old Lukashenko has led Belarus - a former Soviet republic in Eastern Europe bordering EU states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - for more than a quarter of a century, tolerating little dissent.
Minsk has grown closer to Moscow in recent years. But Lukashenko has also maintained relations with EU partners in his almost 27 years in power.
