Belarus: EU sanctions project deadlocked

Brussels promised at the end of August to impose sanctions on Minsk, but is facing opposition from Cyprus.

REUTERS / Yves Herman

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Several tens of thousands of people marched again this Sunday, September 20 in the streets of the Belarusian capital Minsk to demand the departure of President Alexander Lukashenko reelected in early August in a ballot considered rigged by the opposition.

The European Union (EU) had denounced electoral fraud and promised sanctions, but since then, this project has stalled.

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The European Union says it is working on sanctions against those it holds responsible for electoral fraud on August 9 and repression of

demonstrations

.

But these measures against Belarus are for the moment blocked by one of the smallest members of the European Union (EU): Cyprus.

Nicosia refuses to give the green light until the EU also imposes sanctions on its neighbor, Turkey.

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have been rekindled by

Ankara's gas exploration

activities

within the Greek and Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone.

Two dossiers which have nothing to do with it, but which Cyprus is determined to take forward at the same time and which will therefore be on the menu of the European Council on Thursday and Friday, 24 and 25 September.

This Monday morning, the Belarusian opponent in exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, is to meet with EU foreign ministers in Brussels, to try to support the process and to present his own blacklist: a list of officials and members Belarusian security forces who, according to her, participate in police abuses.

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Also to listen: In Belarus, "it is a climate of guerrilla warfare which sets in between the opposition and the authorities"

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  • Belarus

  • European Union

  • Cyprus

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