Saturday

9th Dec 2023

EU Minsk sanctions 'ineffective', warns exiled leader

  • Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya (r) with EU enlargement commissioner Olivér Varhelyi (Photo: European Commission)
Listen to article

Exiled Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya has said current EU sanctions against the Minsk regime have not been effective.

"Sanctions don't work effectively very much at the moment," she told reporters in Vienna on Monday (22 November), noting loopholes.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

But she said the upcoming fifth round of EU sanctions could start to bite, noting they should target state-own firms and banks.

"We estimate up to 40,000 have been detained since 2020, up to 2,000 imprisoned under political charges. At least 10 died," she said of the on-going crackdown in Belarus against pro-democratic forces.

She demanded zero interaction with Alexander Lukashenko, the autocratic leader of Belarus who won a sham presidential election last year.

The comment came on the back of recent phone calls between Germany's outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel and Lukashenko to ease a humanitarian crisis on the Belarus borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Tsikhanouskaya said she understood the urgency of the call given the crisis but that it was still odd from the point of view of Belarus nationals.

"It looked very strange because more than one year ago we called for no dialogue with the regime, no recognition," she said.

"Lukashenko's regime understands only the language of power, they don't understand diplomatic language," she said.

The EU is set to impose new sanctions in response to the escalating border tension, which has seen thousands of migrants and asylum seekers stranded in the cold, leading to a number of deaths.

New sanctions list soon

EU enlargement commissioner Olivér Varhelyi, speaking alongside Tsikhanouskaya and Austria's chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, hinted the latest list of sanctions could be published this week or later.

"We are working [on] ways to further step up our response in a very targeted and effective manner, something that you should expect from us still this week," he said.

When pressed, he later broadened the timeline to "within weeks".

Schallenberg voiced caution about engulfing private Western firms working in Belarus.

"Western companies, to a certain degree, are our lifeline to the west," he said.

"If they pull out tomorrow, which would be their own decision, then they would be replaced by other companies, from other countries when maybe rule of law, human rights and, you know, being responsible to the public is not an issue," he said.

The statements were made following a session at the Vienna-based International Conference on Belarus. No official representative from the Minsk regime was present.

Too early to 'de-escalate' Belarus crisis, says EU official

EU senior officials say Belarus needs to do much more than move migrants and asylum seekers into a shelter. They want UN aid agencies to have unhindered access to people stranded in Belarus. Poland is still refusing any humanitarian aid.

Minsk using migrants to 'divert focus from domestic crackdown'

Belarus authorities in late July launched a crackdown against civil society, says exiled Belarus youth leader Vorykhava. She said the regime in Minsk is now using the migrant border crisis to divert international attention away from repression inside the country.

Opinion

My 6-point plan for Belarus, by former Lithuanian PM

The suggestions below were put on paper after the inspiring and intensive consultations held in Strasbourg last week with the exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, her team and MEP friends of democratic Belarus in the European Parliament.

Analysis

Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit

EU leaders will meet their Chinese counterparts in Beijing for the first face-to-face summit since 2019. Their agenda includes trade imbalances, economic security, Ukraine and human rights — what can be expected by the end of 48 hours of talks?

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us