EU leaders to call for more Belarus sanctions at summit
European Union leaders are expected to call for more sanctions against Belarus at a summit this week after a row over the EU’s use of pressure against Minsk because of human rights abuses led to tit-for-tat diplomatic manoeuvres.
BRUSSELS – European Union leaders are expected to call for more sanctions against Belarus at a summit this week after a row over the EU’s use of pressure against Minsk because of human rights abuses led to tit-for-tat diplomatic manoeuvres.
Belarus expelled the EU ambassador from Minsk and recalled its own envoy from Brussels on Tuesday after EU countries imposed sanctions on 21 Belarussian judges and police officers. In response, the bloc’s 27 capitals agreed to withdraw their own top diplomats.
The moves marked a new low in relations between Belarus and the EU, which have been worsening since long-ruling President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed victory in a December 2010 election. But more sanctions, possibly targeting Belarussian business, may be on the cards in the coming months.
In draft conclusions prepared for the summit on Thursday and Friday, EU leaders plan to express “serious and deepening concern” over a deteriorating human rights situation in the former Soviet republic.
They will ask foreign ministers from EU states to prepare new sanctions in response.
“The European Council invites the Council (of foreign ministers) to proceed with its work on further measures,” they are expected to say, according to a draft text, seen by Reuters.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday, after a meeting of foreign minister in Brussels, they should discuss in March which Belarussian businesses could be targeted by asset freezes as a means of exerting pressure on Lukashenko.
SANCTIONS
Lukashenko, in power in the nation of 10 million since 1994, has tolerated little dissent, cracking down on public protests and jailing opposition leaders.
His re-election for a fourth term in December 2010 sparked mass street protests by the opposition, which led to several opposition candidates who ran against him being arrested.
The EU reinstated a visa ban on Lukashenko and other officials about a year ago, following the 2010 ballot.
Its sanctions target more than 200 people, with visa bans and asset freezes. Assets of three Belarussian companies are also frozen, as part of EU efforts to limit Lukashenko’s access to cash. An arms embargo is also in place.
Minsk remained defiant on Wednesday, with foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh saying expelling EU ministers will help drive the message that sanctions will not change policy.
“If ambassadors are able to explain (to their governments) that the policy of sanctions is pointless, then this will be a positive development,” he told reporters in Minsk.
“We are not interested in escalating the conflict, but as we have said before, we will take any necessary measures to protect our interests.”