Sanctions on Belarus and Lukashenko on the global agenda
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Canada, the United States, the European Union and Britain are discussing possible sanctions against Belarus over its crackdown against protests following a disputed election, a Canadian source directly familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
If sanctions were imposed, they would come “in the not too distant future”, said the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
Protests erupted after an Aug. 9 election that the opposition says was rigged to prolong President Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule. Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and has shown no sign of backing down.
U.N. human rights investigators say they have received reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment of anti-government protesters by police.
“There have been a number of things that have happened since the election that are reprehensible,” said the Canadian source.
“We’ve made it clear the situation cannot stand and that’s precisely the reason we are looking, with other partners, at some sort of sanctions we could put in place.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that Washington and European partners were reviewing imposing targeted punitive measures against anyone involved in human rights abuses in Belarus.
In another development, Lithuania and Estonia have asked fellow EU nations to blacklist Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko when the bloc imposes sanctions on the former Soviet republic over a disputed election and a crackdown on protests, diplomatic sources said.
The European Union decided to sanction Belarusian officials it deems responsible for the presidential election, which officially gave Lukashenko about 80% of the vote but which opposition activists say was rigged.
Mass street protests erupted after the Aug. 9 vote, posing the biggest threat yet to Lukashenko. The EU has demanded the release of thousands of protesters and dialogue between the government and the opposition.
The EU is still negotiating the exact list of people to be barred from travelling and have assets they hold in the bloc frozen, aiming to approve a first set of 10 to 20 names when foreign ministers meet on Sept. 21, the sources said.
Any sanctions need unanimity from all members of the EU, which usually does not target top political figures with a view to keeping communications channels open.
The EU is also coordinating its response to the situation in Belarus with the United States and Britain. A U.S. official said the EU was considering a blacklist of 10-15 names.
Donald Tusk, head of the largest political family in the EU, the centre-right European People’s Party, told Polish website Onet that the bloc would support the Belarusian opposition.
“I am de facto certain that we (the EU) will organise as much resources as will be needed to support the opposition movement in Belarus,” said Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, traditionally a Russia hawk in the EU, who also used to chair EU summits.
