Minsk and Moscow denounce European sanctions against Belarusian regime
For Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov (here in October 2017), these sanctions are "proof of weakness rather than strength".
REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
At the end of the first day of the European summit, Council President Charles Michel announced that the Twenty-Seven had "decided to implement sanctions against those responsible for the repression [of the political opposition] in Belarus" .
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The Kremlin has called "an
admission of weakness
" the sanctions decided on Friday
by EU leaders
against the ruling regime in Belarus.
Sanctions which also led Minsk to announce retaliatory measures.
These sanctions, which will be "
effective from Friday
", freeze the assets in the EU of the people concerned, who are also prohibited from entering the territory of the Union.
President
Alexander Loukachenko
does not appear on the list, which includes "
about forty names
", but the latter is not closed, said European Council President Charles Michel.
"
If things get tougher, we don't refrain from putting Mr. Lukashenko under sanctions
", added French President Emmanuel Macron.
These sanctions were demanded by the Belarusian opposition which rejects the result of the presidential election of August 9.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded by announcing on Friday a list of sanctions against the EU, without further clarification.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, considered that the EU sanctions against Minsk were a "
proof of weakness more than of strength
" on the part of the Europeans, while judging "
positive
" that Alexander Lukashenko is not personally targeted.
"
Avoid insulting the future
"
For Eric Maurice, of the Schuman Foundation, these sanctions are "
a political gesture to show the EU's support for the protest in Belarus while avoiding insulting the future: do not provoke Russia, do not hold up Lukashenko and leave the door open to a dialogue for a new election
”.
The principle of sanctions had been approved several weeks ago, but the unanimity of the Twenty-Seven was required for their implementation.
However, Cyprus made its agreement conditional on taking a firm stand by the EU against violations of its territorial waters by Turkey.
Cypriot President Níkos Anastasiádes, who won his case after more than seven hours of discussions, expressed "
his satisfaction
", as did Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on the second day of the summit which ended on Friday.
(With AFP)
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